


Reverse Entropy: Chaotic World

by fenmiu, PiefaceMcGee



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Black Romance, Body Horror, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Falling In Love, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kinks, Love/Hate, Lust, M/M, Minor Character Death, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Omorashi, Red Romance, Science Fiction, Suicide, Survival Horror, Vore, Wetting, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-13
Updated: 2014-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-01 09:07:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 165,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1043017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenmiu/pseuds/fenmiu, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiefaceMcGee/pseuds/PiefaceMcGee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world gone to hell,  a sheltered scientist and an escaped convict are forced to survive with one another despite a polar clash of personalities, morals, and ideals.  They eventually surprise themselves and each other with the changes they both go through, all the while making friends, enemies, and struggling to bring about change in a hopeless time.</p><p>SebastianxWilliam primary pairing. </p><p>RP Cowritten and co-edited by Keiiaru and PiefaceMcgee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Flipped

\--Start--

 

The banging echoed throughout the entire underground complex, and it only grew louder and louder. Someone had betrayed them, someone had let them in, and everything the scientists had spent the last year working for was to be for naught. 

 

The alarms went off, too, but there really was no fail safe for this situation. The infected should never have gotten this far in. Everybody was trapped. Around thirty innocent souls, being mowed down like grass. 

 

There was no point trying to fight, the humans in the bunker were not fighters by any sense of the word. Some did try, though, and valiantly took up arms to try and get down what few they could before eventually succumbing to the strength of their opponents. The smarter ones just hid and listened, frozen in terror, as their comrades were ripped apart and feasted upon. Blood made the floor slick, and the scent seeped into every single crevice. 

 

William Spears was the name of one of the smarter scientists, that is to say, the ones that were still alive within the first hour. He sat in a sliding-door locker, and there was an incredibly relieving sense of safety knowing that this door was locked, and it wasn’t likely anyone would check here for him. 

 

More encompassing than the relief, of course, was the natural terror, and a suffocating feeling of self-loathing. He knew in his heart that he should have gotten out there and tried to help, and maybe a few people would still be alive. But he couldn’t do it. Logic dictated it was suicide, and they’d only survived this long down here by logic. It was what kept them alive. 

 

Nearby, he heard a defiant scream, followed by gunfire. They’d gotten in.   
William clapped his hands over his ears, balling up tightly and trying to stifle his quick, shallow breathing. His heart felt like it would burst in his chest; he wanted to vomit. But no matter how tightly he jammed his ears, he couldn’t block out the inevitable screams. 

 

That had been Claude Faustus, hadn’t it? One of his closest friends down here. Just another corpse, now. 

 

“Oh, fuck, fuck…” William gasped to himself, then bit down on his hand to prevent making any further sounds. He could hear the grunts and snarls of the Sick Ones spreading all through the room. It was only a matter of time before they found him too. They’d definitely smell the fear around him, in his clothes. 

 

“Oh, no, n-no…” He was definitely going to die. 

 

All at once, the clattering and banging started up again, followed by rapid gunfire once more. The sounds of violence returned, metal entering flesh and flesh and blood spattering across concrete. A dark figure had entered the bunker like a shadow, unnoticed, and now it massacred the monsters in a fashion just as gruesome as the monsters had massacred the men and women of science. Sebastian Michaelis downed the Sick Ones one after another, making them fall like flies, only needing one or two shots for each one so long as he hit them between the eyes, which was nearly always.

 

The smell of gunpowder and hot metal now added to the smells of gore and death in the room, and all was quiet, save for the last few empty bullet shells hitting the ground with gentle clinks. Sebastian spat out his cigarette onto the hideous, decomposing, rotten face of one of the infected, and walked slowly across the blood-slicked floor, quietly, on alert for any others, living or undead. There didn't seem to be any signs of life, and he didn't bother checking any of the fallen bodies of any scientists who couldn't even hold their weapons with the proper grips. They were certain to be dead. 

 

"This far down, though," he muttered, rolling his shoulders with an audible crack and pushing them back with his hands. Tarnished stainless steel handcuffs adorned his wrists with no sign of a chain. "Didn't think they'd spread so far. Bastards, you made me use all of my ammo." 

 

It was a precarious situation, at best. Now his only defense was his knives, and it was much harder to kill the beasts without long-range weapons.

 

It had gone quiet, now, and after the longest minute of his life, William stood up. He moved so slowly that he could feel every muscle creaking in his body, and he couldn’t shake the fear that somehow they could hear it. 

 

Eventually, he adjusted his crooked, steel-framed glasses, the lenses of which had fogged up in his hyperventilation. William raised his citrus-green eyes to the small grate at the top of the locker, peeking out. At first all he could see was the blood, and the bodies, and the sight made him gag. There was a lone figure standing amongst the mutilated corpses. A male, about his own age or a little younger, the same build, or a little more muscular. Possibly a bit taller. 

 

He was not a scientist, so was this man friend or foe? William’s legs were shaking so hard, on the verge of collapse. The part of his brain still clinging to logic told him this fear was a natural physiological reaction, and when a man is afraid, these reactions can be nearly impossible to control. 

 

Logic told him, too, that he wouldn’t survive a minute on his own. So with trembling, pale hands, he unlocked the door to the locker, and slid it open slowly.

 

Sebastian's sensitive ears were carefully attuned to his surroundings, and immediately picked up on the gentle, quiet clack from the locker. He snapped his head to the direction the sound had come from, immediately, instinctively raising his empty gun and pointing it directly at the locker, as a warning in case there was an enemy. He lowered it very slightly when he saw a man in a white lab coat, free of any bloodstains -- he alone appeared to have escaped the carnage.

 

He exhaled shortly through his nose. He distinctly remembered shoving the nerdy-types like him into their lockers at school, a time so long ago it felt like it could have been a completely different world. Who'd have thought that one would lock himself in to survive, one day?

 

Even though the gun was empty, Sebastian kept his finger on the trigger; it was more comfortable that way, physically and psychologically. "Just you, Four-Eyes?" he asked with a bit of a sneer, gazing down at him through judgmental coppery-brown eyes.

 

William hesitated. The man was still pointing a gun at him! Maybe he'd let the infected in, somehow, and was the sole reason that the only people he had left in his life were all dead. He was incapable of even feeling any grief right now, it was just sickening fear. 

 

"Put the gun down!" he heard himself say in a wavering tone, and he shifted behind the door of the locker. "I d-- I'm not armed. I don't...have anything on me.." Far off, he could hear more of the contaminated crawling around, culling any survivors.

Sebastian made a small sound of annoyance, but he put the gun away. The scientist was by no means a threat. He smelled like he'd pissed himself, if Sebastian was going to be honest with himself, which he always was. He turned his head toward the direction the infected ones seemed to be coming from, and he withdrew a switchblade from his pocket as he approached the quaking scientist. "If you want to stay alive, get ready to run," he said simply, rolling up his sleeves.

 

William's eyes widened immediately as the man approached him with the knife, but his words were far more fear-inspiring. "Run?!" He scanned the bloody floor, and now he was recognizing faces. "Run where!? This is an underground bunker, in case you weren't aware, and outside is....!!" 

 

Every instinct in his body willed him to stick to this man, crass and cocky though he was.   
"I need your help..."

Sebastian resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "They don't run, in case you weren't aware," he replied in a rather scathing tone, "And outside is where I have my bike waiting for me, and you too, if you somehow manage not to die. Quit your blathering and get ready." His left hand seized William's wrist, and he kept his gaze fixed firmly at the door. 

 

Mentally, he mapped out the mazelike route he'd taken to get down in this room. It would be easy enough to get back out, provided this quivering pansy didn't hold him back. He probably would; he knew the shut-in characteristics of the intellectuals who were so desperate for a cure, they neglected to train their bodies for occasions precisely like this. Judging by the amount of blood-spattered white coats strewn about the floor, the stereotype was embarrassingly true.

"It's -- I -- wait a moment!" He ran over to his desk, and started shoving things in his pockets. Invaluable research notes, a few personal items, and a photograph of his father and himself when he was just a child -- the only remaining memoir that he had of his family.   
He had two weapons stowed in his drawer, but he hadn't been able to get to them in time. 

 

Collecting them now, he had a pistol with six bullets and a pocket knife. Grabbing those, he stumbled back to the side of this stranger, slipping on the blood of his close friend Claude on his way over and on the verge of tears when he finally rejoined Sebastian.

Sebastian stood by impatiently, cracking his knuckles in preparation of what he needed to do. Honestly, a life-or-death situation and the sentimental fool had to run and save his knickknacks first? Sebastian disliked him already. At least he had enough sense to grab his own weapon, but the cynical man strongly doubted the little scientist would have even the faintest idea how to use it. "Are you done?" he asked impatiently, glancing back to the door they would shortly be bursting through.

 

With a gun in his hand, William felt safer already, but not as safe as having his own bodyguard. "Here," he muttered, thrusting the gun into Sebastian's hand. Logic dictated they had a better survival rate if Sebastian handled the gun. "Just get us out of here." He flicked open his pocket knife and gripped it in his sweaty, clammy hands. He could hear the growls getting louder, and his heart began its quickening once more.

 

No sooner had the gun entered Sebastian's hand than he tightened his grip on William's wrist and bolted across the floor, tracking bloody footprints in his wake. Immediately upon hurtling through the doorway, they met with another small group of the infected ones. Without missing a step or batting an eye, Sebastian stabbed three of them in rapid succession, right between the eyes, all of them. They fell and made the ones behind them stumble and trip, leaving the two living men free to race their way up to sunlight and freedom.

William fumbled behind him, understandably horrified. He'd been in the bunker for seven months -- it had only taken three for the world to fall to ruin. He hadn't seen a living zombie since the initial outbreak and carnage. Occasionally people brought them dead ones for study, but that was the extent of it. 

 

Luckily, he did exercise, and he was fit enough to keep up with Sebastian as they ran.

Sebastian's speed and agility were effortless, and it rather surprised him that the scientist wasn't out of breath yet. He held back from using the pistol unless the situation became dire; a small weapon like that would only have a few bullets. He threw his knife more than once, hitting his targets dead-on with hideous cracks and splattering sounds accompanying them, and he would wrench it out of their foreheads as he ran past, before the infected could even crumple to the ground. 

 

He only had to use the pistol once. One of the monsters stood in their way at the last stairway, and he shot it to make it fall down the stairs; it would have been too difficult to fight against it while running up a staircase. It crumpled and tumbled down to the floor, and Sebastian nimbly leaped over it, dragging William with him. 

 

His motorcycle was right where he left it, sleek, modern, black, and beautiful, their ticket to escape. He quickly took in their surroundings, and they were still plenty outnumbered, but with the motorcycle, they had no hope of catching up. He'd just come back to kill them another day; for now, he had to get this guy out. Sebastian had known what this place was the moment he'd gotten inside; their last hope for a cure, and this guy here was probably the last. Obviously, it was pretty fucking important to keep him alive and uninfected.

 

Sebastian practically leaped onto his bike and revved it up, rather roughly yanking Four-Eyes onto it and forcing him to hang onto his waist. "Hold on tight," he commanded, and not a second later they were speeding away, the motor roaring loudly as the Sick Ones grew to be mere specks in the distance behind them.

 

William closed his eyes tight and pressed his head to Sebastian's back as they rode away on the motorcycle. This was his first time on one, and all he could think about was crashing, going flying, grinding his face in the tarmac. The sudden breeze against his damp legs was very uncomfortable, to say the least. "Wh-where are we going!?" he cried, clinging tightly to the man. Then another thought occurred to him. "Isn't the air supposed to be t-toxic!? Aaah, aah, you're going to crash it!" he cried. 

 

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

 

"I'm not gonna fuckin' crash, Mum, I know how to drive," Sebastian shouted back over the roar of the motor and the rushing wind. "We'll be fine for the few minutes we'll be up; it's not as bad here. We're going to my place, another bunker. A better-hidden one."

"Better-hidden one," William echoed numbly. "We were...we were the hope of the fucking human race. No one knew where our bunker was! Someone -- someone betrayed us, and now they're dead, everyone is dead..." He cinched his eyes shut even tighter as they burned now, the grief starting to set in. "....God..."

 

Sebastian exhaled sharply through his nose in annoyance and just focused on driving, staying under cover and on the road. Abandoned cars littered the sides of the road, already rusted, sun-bleached, and decaying wherever they'd been left from disuse. Trash was everywhere, and every plant, tree, and shrub was overgrown, weeds sprouting through every single crack in the pavement. 

 

He turned suddenly, slowing down into a dark alley, so overgrown with peoples' abandoned plants that the sun didn't even shine through it. He lifted up a cracked terra-cotta pot and hit some invisible switch, and a hidden doorway slid open. He rode through it and made sure to shut the door behind him. It locked the moment it was closed, and the only light came from the headlights of his motorcycle. Their journey hadn't ended, though; this was only the entrance to the place leading to where he was hiding out. 

 

The motorcycle rumbled along through what appeared to be an abandoned parking garage, and he steered it to an old maintenance service elevator. Once inside, he closed the doors and pressed the button leading to the lowest basement level, and shut off his bike to preserve its power and gas. They were safe for now, and still had a little ways to go.

 

William was trembling as he followed him along, his gait a bit wobbly from the bike ride. 

 

These walls were solid concrete, though...the place seemed rather safe. "What is this place? A nuclear bunker, perhaps?" he asked, starting to get his resolve back now that they were away from the zombies.

 

Sebastian shrugged. "A fallout shelter, I guess. It was built during the Cold War but it still holds up strong," he replied. He was itching for a cigarette, but the one he'd spat onto one of the Infected's faces was the last one he'd had on him. "Some mates of mine ended up using it to cook crystal meth for a long time, but they all got themselves killed during the First Wave, so it's just mine now. Not for meth, but...it makes a good hideout."

 

"Not for meth..." William was surprised. Sebastian definitely seemed like the type to hit the crystal. "I suppose you don't know how to make it, after all....it is complex science."   
William stayed close to the man nonetheless, wondering if he really was alone down here.

 

Sebastian's eye twitched in annoyance; William had hit the nail square on the head. "No, I don't. Believe me, if I did, I'd probably be high as fuck right now," he replied a little irritably. The elevator hit the bottom floor with a jolt, and Sebastian pushed open the heavy doors, wheeling his motorcycle along beside him before starting it back up. They had arrived at what was clearly an underground highway of some sorts, full of dust and spiderwebs. 

 

"There's a lot of big, unused places down here," he told William. "Enough for probably the whole country to hide in if they needed to. Not that they need it much now. It was completely abandoned when I found it, and I just took the biggest one because why the hell not? No one's missing it. Some old man's mad science lab, I guess, but then he must've croaked too because there was all kinds of stuff just lying around when I found it. You're a nerdy scientist type, right? Bet you'd cream your pants if you saw what kinda stuff he had around."

 

William cringed at Sebastian's terminology. What a truly vulgar man. "If you were high you'd probably be dead, right now. And so would I...." He looked around in amazement. Who knew a place like this was down here? Did they have supplies? How long had Sebastian been down here, staying safe? And why didn't he have any company?

 

Sebastian revved up the motorcycle again and motioned for William to get back on. "It'll save us some time if I ride us through to the end of the tunnel," he said expectantly. "Climb aboard, Four-Eyes."

 

"'Four Eyes'," echoed William. "What are you, twelve years old?" It was clear down here, at least. Nothing to crash into. Very reluctantly, he got back on the motorcycle and took a hold around Sebastian's waist, and they sped off towards the supposed 'abandoned lab'.

 

They passed by nothing interesting on their way to the end. Sebastian would merely point out various doors and told William what was behind them -- "Nothing in there." "Black widows, probably." "Storage room, ex-meth lab, brown recluse breeding grounds." "Food storage, definitely clear of spiders. Mostly." 

 

To get back at William for the insult, Sebastian drove like a maniac, suddenly speeding up only to brake so abruptly they almost flew over the handlebars, weaving back and forth like a drunken sailor, and finally shouting at the top of his voice "Oh, SHIT!" and slamming the brakes again like he'd seen something, though of course there was nothing. "...We're here," he finished calmly, shutting off the engine and approaching a set of metal doors. They were thick and heavy, and their security consisted of bolts just as thick, and instead of a key and lock, there was a complex code to imput. He carelessly entered it without looking, and there was a loud clack that echoed through the tunnels as the door unlocked and slid open. Sebastian pushed the motorcycle through and turned on the lights.

 

Dim fluorescent lights flickered on, illuminating the space. It was fairly clean, for the most part, if a little untidy. It was definitely someone's old science lab, with counters filled with all sorts of equipment that Sebastian hadn't bothered to move; he didn't have much in the way of personal effects, so he simply left the previous tenant's belongings out instead. Still, he'd decorated it to his tastes: there were large maps of the country pinned up to the walls, certain areas circled decisively with red lines connecting them via specific routes, particularly in the map of London. There were posters of various musical groups, actors, actresses, half-naked men and women alike decorating whatever a map didn't. It reeked of marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol, and there were quite a few empty bottles throughout the place. He'd somehow procured a rather nice black leather couch, though it wasn't anywhere near brand new -- it was showing its wear and tear. 

 

Shoved off in the corner was a rather large mattress, stored on top of what appeared to be food storage, canned goods on closer inspection. There was a whole area that was obviously the kitchen, separate from the 'laboratory', that contained even more food storage and enormous water storage containers. Whoever had lived here before had been well-prepared, but Sebastian had made it even better by taking as many cans of food as he could carry almost every time he went out. He could hide out here for quite a long time if he needed to.

 

William staggered in the door after him, his hair windblown and his heart going a thousand miles an hour. "F...fucker," he'd uttered as he went back in, and silently resolved to never get back on that damned bike again. 

 

He quickly forgot himself when they entered the lab. It reeked, yes, and it was very much like a teenage boy's place, covered in suggestive posters. But the science equipment was amazing, William could spend days examining it all, since the place was so large. William could definitely hide out here, even if it meant staying with this complete wanker. And maybe, he hoped, even continue his research.

 

Sebastian pulled a carton of cigarettes off a shelf by his bed first thing, fumbling with it a little as he pulled one out and lit up. He turned to face William once he'd had a couple of puffs, and slowly exhaled smoke through his nose. "It's not much, but it's home, and it's safe. You're boring and a prude, far as I can tell, but if I'm gonna be honest with you...you're probably humanity's last hope. Not to put any pressure on you or anything."

 

"Is that so?" William replied flatly. "I've already been humanity's last hope for over a year, now. And I'm the last one left....I suppose that means you have to keep me alive." He took a handkerchief from his pocket and started wiping his glasses. "That means keeping me around. You might want to tone down that attitude of yours, convict, if you expect me to stay."

 

Sebastian automatically toyed with one of the silver, rusting handcuffs at his wrists, but not out of self-consciousness. "Clever," he replied coolly. "But good luck surviving out there on your own."

 

"I know," said William, now replacing his glasses. "But that doesn't mean I have to stay. You're currently charged with keeping humanity's last hope alive, no pressure or anything." 

 

He unbuttoned his coat and set it down on the couch.

 

Sebastian sneered at him in annoyance; he hadn't expected him to be sassing back after he'd found him in the state he had. He flopped down onto his bed. "Hmph. You must've been real popular," he muttered.

 

"Oh, fairly," said William. "I had friends...up until twenty minutes ago, when the last of them was torn asunder. I certainly wasn't alone," he muttered, glancing around the place. "Not like this. Do you have a showering facility? And preferably some spare clothes."

 

Sebastian made a small noise of disgruntlement over having to get up again, but he showed William where the shower was. "Back there, over by the kitchen," he replied. "And I don't know if anything I have will even fit you," he said disdainfully. "You're really bloody skinny. Surprised you weren't blown away on the ride over."

 

"Yes, unfortunately. Rations were meager, and we had to share them amongst thirty people instead of hoarding them to ourselves," William replied promptly, slipping his tie off, along with tugging off his belt and his shoes. Then he made his way into the bathroom to remove the rest of his clothes.

 

"I don't hoard, you pompous tit," Sebastian replied in annoyance, opening the bathroom door and glaring him down with no regard for his privacy. "I do have friends. I share and give them what they need because not all of them are as resourceful as I am. I live alone because I like my space. I have a good place to store food where it won't get rotten or wasted."

 

William obviously had ignored him until he'd chased him down. Luckily he hadn't removed his pants yet. Giving him a haughty glare, he turned to face him. He had burn scars along his side that stretched over his ribcage, as well as part of his arm, seemingly from some horrific accident some time ago. "My apologies; you clearly are a good Samaritan," he remarked irritably.

 

Sebastian offered the scars a passing glance, disinterestedly, before glaring the other man down. "Ungrateful little shit," he muttered before roughly shutting the door and going back to his bed. He pulled out an old magazine of the adult variety, wishing like Hell he had something new to get off to in order to relax himself again.

 

William peeled his lower garments off and got in the shower. To his surprise, it was fairly clean, and decently hot. He was quick, though, not wanting to be vulnerable around Sebastian any longer. When he'd finished, he grabbed a towel off the rack. It was dark, and William was grateful -- he didn't want to see exactly how much filth was on the towel prior. 

 

Pausing behind the door, he tilted his ear to peculiar sounds coming from the other room, and he reddened a bit once he realized what it was. This man had absolutely no shame, did he?  
William just sat down against the wall and waited for him to finish, taking a moment to feel sorry for himself and ponder his fate.

 

Sebastian finished up not long afterwards, and put the magazine away and went off to wash his hands in the kitchen and fix something to eat, afterwards. While he lived a little untidily, he at least liked to stay decently clean. "How long are you gonna sit there eavesdropping, Four-Eyes?" he asked casually as he opened up a tin of pears.

 

William pulled the door open and stalked out. "Not like I had a choice, convict. It certainly beat having to watch, in any case. Jesus christ..." Adjusting his glasses, he turned to the raven-haired man. "Clothes?"

 

Sebastian just pointed over to the couch, where a pair of jeans, a pair of boxer shorts, and a t-shirt lay folded, all clean. "Over there on the couch, Your Majesty," he muttered as he drained the preserving syrup from the tin and transfered the fruit to a bowl. He threw the can away and watched William, looking over his scars again and wondering briefly how he'd gotten them. It was none of his business, though, so he said nothing.

 

William took them and returned to the bathroom so he could quickly dress. Sebastian was right -- the clothes were a bit loose on him, but he just found his belt and put it on to fix that problem right up. Once that was done, he went and put on a few lights, since the place was dim and dank, and there was no natural light. It was a little claustrophobic, but William kept his complaints to himself and instead went exploring.

 

Sebastian immediately turned off the lights that were in empty rooms. "Don't waste my electricity," he growled. "Use the light in whatever room you're in, and then turn it off when you're done. I've got nice generators and I want them to last as long as possible."

 

William had ignored him, of course, the moment he'd spotted a large circular contraption, tipped over in one of the corners. "...This...could this be..?!" he whispered under his breath, dropping down beside the huge device and examining it. A portal platform, it had to be!   
"I thought...the only prototypes were destroyed...!"

 

Sebastian leaned against the wall with one shoulder, bowl of pears in one hand and a fork in the other. "What're you yammering about?" he asked irritably, starting to regret his decision in saving this lone scientist. "Prototypes?"

 

William looked up at him. "You've lived here how long and you didn't realize there is a portal platform here?" he uttered condescendingly, then started trying to lift it up. "Amazing...we could go anywhere in the world! Who knows where we'd end up? Maybe there's a place out there that's safe....If I could just get it to work..."

 

"Sorry, not everyone in the universe gets to be a brain genius like you," Sebastian snapped in reply, watching him try to lift the enormous thing. "I've never seen anything like this thing. How the hell was I supposed to know what it was?"

 

William had quickly developed the ability to tune out to Sebastian's whining, and he did so now, murmuring under his breath as he examined the device. "Could it possibly work...?" He propped it against the wall, spotting an abandoned screwdriver sitting on a bench. He grabbed it and started removing the back panel.

 

Sebastian exhaled in annoyance and walked away with the bowl of fruit. "Whatever, as long as it shuts you up," he muttered, taking his food to the table. He'd been used to silence whenever he wanted it for so long, it was difficult to deal with having a roommate. But he knew he'd have to put up with him -- if he wanted to stay alive, and if he wanted any chance of humanity gaining any sense of normality, keeping this twit alive was going to be his top priority.


	2. In and Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2~ We really need some feedback for this. If you could leave reviews, we'd love it, and if you like this story, share it with your friends, to get the word out <3 We'll keep posting it if enough people are interested~ <3 Thanks!

A month passed. William, to his surprise, was still alive.

 

He'd eventually made himself at home in the abandoned lab, living on the couch most of the time. He had nothing except the few items he'd grabbed last minute, the outfit Sebastian gave him, and his scientist outfit, which had been washed and he generally preferred to wear it.

 

William didn't even know the name of the man he'd been living with. They scarcely spoke to one another because they quickly realized they didn't like each other that much. William absolutely loathed Sebastian's attitude, and just listening to the filth that came out of his mouth made him cringe. He'd made a mental rule that if Sebastian started talking foul, he'd just tune out to him, and it had worked well.

 

Mostly, he busied himself with working on broken devices around the place. At first, he'd built a radio, then fixed the stove up so they could heat their food now.

 

The portal, however, wouldn't work without a special battery element that they just didn't have. Without it, it didn't have the power to transfer somebody through spacetime.

 

Sebastian, in turn, gradually got used to having someone else live in his home. He preferred silence when he was alone, so William's constant tinkering drove him up the wall, at first. But like William to Sebastian's blunt and open nature, Sebastian quickly learned how to tune him out, for the sake of his sanity. Inwardly, he was impressed when the stove was fixed; he'd been horrified when he'd found it had stopped working one day, and he hadn't the faintest idea how to fix it. With that and the radio, Sebastian decided that the stuck-up scientist wasn't really so bad to have around.

 

Even so, he despised how pompous and full of himself the other man was. William was very bossy, in Sebastian's opinion, and it often made his blood boil when he received orders within his own house. As a result, Sebastian often left him alone to go about his business, and check on his friends and acquaintances throughout the city, taking out any of the Sick Ones he happened upon along the way. He frequently brought back food.

 

About a month after he'd brought William back, Sebastian returned from one of his excursions with a pack full of steaming, delicious-smelling food. He was acquaintances with a Chinese family and had saved their skins from a horde of the infected ones just in the nick of time, and helped fix up their defenses that had been torn down. To thank him, they gave him a homemade meal with rice, eggs, chicken, noodles, and vegetables, a treat that Sebastian had not had in a very long time. He brought it back home, figuring he might as well at least share it with the pushy scientist. "Hey, you," he called when he pushed through the door. "I've got food."

 

That was the best part of the day, really, when Sebastian brought back new food. But William was starting to go a bit stir crazy, which was surprising since he'd spent the last year alone in a bunker. And he was so sick and tired of having the same two outfits to wear day in, day out. This, as a result, made him get a bit snappier with Sebastian than usual, especially since he knew going outside was far too dangerous.

 

"Where do you even get those clothes from?" William grumbled. "Do you have a supplier? Do you steal them from abandoned outlet malls? Or do you pull them off the bodies of the dead?"

 

Sebastian just glared at him, chopsticks in hand. "Bit of all of those really," he replied coldly as he chewed his rice. "The dead aren't using them anymore. The shopping centres aren't exactly in business anymore. The rest I barter with food and favors. Not that it was any of your business. You're welcome for the food, by the way."

 

William huffed and got up. "Well, thankyou, I suppose," he muttered, giving a sigh as he glanced down at his feet. "...Maybe you could....I don't know, pick up something for me, sometime...Some clothes…?"

 

Sebastian glanced over at him sideways. "I pick things out for myself. I don't even know what you like. Chances are I'll bring something back for you and you'll just bitch at me because it's not your style," he grumbled, turning his gaze back to his meal.

 

William took his share and went to sit down on the couch.  
"I'd wear what you're wearing," he muttered, turning away a bit. "It's not so bad. As long as it's not too revealing, I don't care."

 

This honestly surprised Sebastian, and he looked back up at William, expecting to see him grinning like it was some big joke. "Really," he said a little dubiously. "Well, I guess in that case I could find you something. But you'd better not complain about whatever I bring you. I'm not a fashionista, alright? I just wear what I think suits me."

 

He scrutinized the other man for a moment, tilting his head. "You're probably a few sizes smaller than me. What a pain in the arse...you'd better come with me so I don't bring back something that's too big. If you're practically swimming in what you're wearing, it's a hell of a lot harder to run away when you need to. You need something that's snug but flexible. Loose-fitting clothes are easier to snag or get grabbed at. The less rubbish you have hanging off you, the better. You have to find stuff that's just loose enough to let you move around easily, but tight enough that you're difficult to get ahold of."

 

He paused to have a long drink from a bottle of beer. "You might be a pompous, bossy prick, but you're not a wimp. You ran fast enough to survive the day I found you. That's good enough."

 

William sat there for a minute, continuing to eat his Chinese. He'd honestly never thought he'd eat Chinese ever again, and it was beautiful. He loved the honey glaze on the chicken most of all. Complex flavours had been a thing of the past, for him. "I still don't know about coming out with you. It's dangerous. And the toxins in the air..."

 

"It's not as bad as it was a few months ago," Sebastian replied. "But even so, I've got gas masks. Of course it's fucking dangerous, but I'll be damned if I'm letting you go alone. No one dies under my watch."

 

William said nothing, and merely wondered if Sebastian had ever lost anyone before. Maybe it explained why he was such a hermit.

 

"I see...." He swallowed a bit. "But what if there are Infected? What if there are a lot of them?"

 

Sebastian set his chopsticks down and walked over to the couch where William sat, looking up at the enormous map of London he'd pinned up. "I'd know," he said simply.  
"All these places I've circled are places where I've found and killed Infected. I've got a network of people I keep in touch with every single day. We pool our information together and we all patrol certain areas and we kill Infected on sight. There's always a risk, but the place I usually go when I need new clothes is well protected. It was an underground shopping centre with grates on all entrances. We keep watch on them; keep people inside for shelter, and keep the Infected out. We have a system. We're not directionless, gormless scavengers."

 

"Could've fooled me," William said under his breath, but he had seen the map himself, and he knew Sebastian was at least somewhat more intelligent than he appeared. "I can carry food, too," he said, trying to be helpful, and at least not seem totally useless.

 

Sebastian gave William a dirty look when he heard the muttered comment, and folded his arms across his chest.  
"Oh, look what a big boy you are," he replied sarcastically. "Put on a backpack and fill it up...how hard that is to do. I'm not blind; I can see you can do that much. People I know'll probably want you to fix their shit, too. If you can fix other people's appliances and make everyone radios like you made here, we can probably all work a hell of a lot more efficiently."

 

William responded with his middle finger. "Then don't be such a prat," he shot back. "Fine, I can fix other people's radios too. I assume we get something in return for these services?" he asked. "And if you know of any other scientists out there, please get me in touch with them."

 

Maybe there was a better place he could stay.

 

"No, I don't," Sebastian replied curtly, looking over the map before returning to his seat at the rickety wooden table. "I don't know any other Four-Eyes like you. But I always get compensation. Food, an extra blanket, maybe some extra water. Luxury items if they like me enough, like cigarettes and drinks. Though those are easier to get from dealers."

 

"Well, maybe they'll start giving you better compensation, if I give them important items like radios," said William, eating his Chinese as fast as he could without looking like a glutton.  
"I am sure I can be helpful to you. But if there are other scientists still out there...I'd be better help to them."

 

"They'll give you better compensation," Sebastian corrected him. "You only reap the rewards if you do the work. I'll do mine and you'll do yours. And you take whatever they offer you with a smile, even if it's shit, because for most people, it's all they've got." He huffed a little, cleaning off his plate and making sure to eat every last crumb. "I honestly don't even know anyone who knows other scientists. That's something you're gonna have to figure out yourself."

 

William sighed, putting his empty plate down. He hated this man, truly, and he just wanted out of this place.

 

"Maybe I'll get the portal working...and by some miracle I'll find a place where I'm useful and can continue my research," he said sullenly. "Where I'd get fausalium, though, God knows."

 

"Ask around," Sebastian responded just as sullenly. "Like "God" could even be real if a situation like this is allowed to exist. What a joke..."

 

" 'God is dead'," William responded shortly. "Friedrich Nietszche." He lay down on the couch and pulled his blankets up around him. He'd worked all night, and with little grasp on day and night down here, he slept when he wanted to.

 

Sebastian cleaned up after their meal with an exhausted, irritated sigh. "I'll take you out tomorrow," he muttered. "You've been even more of a pain in the arse than usual for the past few days, so you're coming with me to get a change of scenery. And a few changes of clothes, apparently."

 

William grunted in response and rolled over, placing his glasses on the table, and dropping off to sleep, sleep which had been understandably quite troubled of late. He'd had plenty of nightmares, and often awoke in cold sweats. But if Sebastian had noticed, he hadn't said anything, and that was just fine by William.

 

Sebastian had noticed. As obnoxious and self-important as he found William, he couldn't help but admit to himself that he had grown a little curious about him over time, wondering what his nightmares were about (though the present situation left little to the imagination) and where his scars had come from.

 

Often he would pause in his daily activities to watch the nameless scientist sleep, not so proud that he wouldn't admit to himself that William had been blessed with a particularly handsome face (when it wasn't busy yapping about Big Important Things with Large Words to show how intelligent he was), but of course he doubted he'd ever say it to William's face. Still...he wondered if the other man was any good in bed. Probably not.

 

William had started awake that night with a bit of a cry, coated in sweat as usual. The lights had been mostly turned out, and he couldn't see much at all. Leaning against the couch, he sighed heavily, letting out a miserable 'Fuck....' before tugging off his drenched shirt and tossing it to the floor. He took a drink of water then slumped back down, still shaking a fair bit.

 

Sebastian was awake, in the middle of a routine inspection to make sure his bunker was still safe and secure, when he heard William wake. He turned, and headed back to the main room to check on him, making sure he wasn't going to choke on his own vomit or anything. It wouldn't be the first time the other man had woken up from a nightmare and immediately been sick.

 

Upon hearing somebody prowling about, William startled again, immediately assuming it was one of the Sick Ones. Once he realized it was Sebastian, though, he relaxed instantly, and groaned, opening his water once more.

 

Sebastian merely pushed a rubbish bin William's way, not at all wanting to clean up a mess again. "You're not the only one," he said quietly. "Most people still wake up at night just like that."

 

William turned his head and glanced at him, pushing his damp fringe off his forehead.  
He wasn't really sure what to say to that. "Not you, though..." he said after a minute, facing the couch.

 

"Not anymore, no," Sebastian agreed, sitting on the end of the couch where William's feet were. "I did at first. It was frustrating, 'cause I've seen some shit, but not like that." He pulled a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and offered it to William.

 

William caught the cigarette in his trembling fingers and promptly lit up, though he was a bit uncomfortable with Sebastian sitting near him. "...You," he muttered, "....what's your name?"

 

It was odd, knowing they'd been living together for a month without ever once asking for each other's names. It had just sort of turned out that way. "Sebastian Michaelis," he replied, lighting up a cigarette for himself, as well. "You?"

 

"William," came the short reply. "William T. Spears." He sat back, and breathed out a cloud of cigarette smoke. "You do look like a Sebastian, I'll give you that. It's a nice name."

 

William. Of course he'd have a fancyass name like that. "Most of my mates just call me Seb," Sebastian replied, exhaling a plume of smoke. "Suits me better. Less fussy."

 

"....I like Sebastian," William replied, pronouncing the 'tian' clearly rather than 'chun'. "Anyway...don't let me keep you from whatever you were doing. I'm fine."

 

Sebastian let out a deep yawn, covering his mouth with the hand holding his cigarette. "I was just checking to make sure everything's as it should be," he mumbled once he'd finished. "It is, in case you were wondering." He stood up. "With that done, I guess I'll have a quick kip. Try to get back to sleep. You'll need your strength tomorrow."

 

"Of course." William doused what remained of his cigarette and lay back down on the couch. It was still a bit damp, but thankfully with nothing but his own sweat. He managed to rest peacefully for the rest of the night.

 

\--

There was no light shining through the window when William awoke. Just the same dim light, same as always. So he had no clue if it was day or night, still, but it really didn't matter.

 

Sebastian was awake already when William woke; he was situated on a mat in a more open area of the lab, doing stretches in only a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants. He had his share of scars, as well; knife and bullet wounds from his past, though none so large and obvious as William's. The silver handcuffs at his wrists glinted in the dim light as he held his stretches, perfectly steady and balanced. He had quite a rugged, athletic build, well-toned and healthy.

 

William rather stretched his neck to get a look at the man stretching in his sweatpants as he joined the waking world. Very handsome. Very muscular. And look at those flawless stretches; William could not do them without his muscles burning. Too bad Sebastian had such a crude personality.

 

Sebastian was capable of some very complex yoga positions, and they could make even him break into a bit of a sweat, but it was quite an improvement from what he'd been capable of a year before. He was about to enter the Tree position when he caught sight of William watching him, and flashed him a smirk. "Like what you see?" he asked lazily as he lifted his leg up and extended his arms into the air.

 

William scoffed. "You're very fit, that's all," he commented, reaching for the shirt he'd tossed off the previous night and pulling it on. He started to head to the kitchen, hoping there was still some coffee.

 

There was a little left, though not much. Sebastian had prepared some already for him to drink when he finished with his morning stretches. "Have to be," he replied as he exhaled slowly. "Kind of necessary these days."  
"Doesn't surprise me," William replied, and ignored the cup of coffee on the counter, knowing it was not for him. Luckily the water was still hot, so he poured his own cup quickly.

 

Sebastian finished up his routine and went to drink his cup of coffee, not caring much that it was cold. The way he leaned against the kitchen counter made his sweatpants slide down his hips just a little, revealing that he really was only wearing sweats. "You'd probably benefit from doing stretches, too," he replied nonchalantly as he sipped his coffee. "Doesn't do you any good to run fast only to overwork all your muscles and be too sore to move afterwards."

 

"I don't intend to have to do any running," William replied, his eyes instantly wandering to the pale hips, the snail trail, and of course the bulge in Sebastian's pants. He blinked quickly and glanced away, bringing the cup to his lips. "But I do exercise, you know."

 

Sebastian scoffed disbelievingly. "If you want to survive out there, you'd better plan to run every time you're out there. Not everyone will be as hospitable as me. The zombies aren't your only enemy out there. There's people out there who will shoot anything that moves because anyone left alive is just seen as competition."

 

"That's why I intend to survive in here," William replied, turning away from the attractively posed man, and moving to the fridge to scavenge something to make for breakfast.

 

Sebastian stepped forward and stopped him, grabbing him a little roughly by the shoulder. "It's time you start properly pulling your weight around here," he fairly growled. "You want to come out with me and get some new clothes, right? It's time to stop being such a stuck-up pussy and get with the program. I'll keep you alive, but I expect you to start really helping out."

 

"Mmh--!" As Sebastian grabbed him, he jolted William's cup of coffee and the hot liquid spilt onto his chest, scalding him, burning his skin. Without a word, William dropped the cup to the floor, it shattered, and he hurried from the room.

 

Sebastian stepped back, eyes wide, to avoid stepping on the shards of the cup. He glanced down at the mess of coffee and ruined mug, and then exhaled slowly in annoyance, glaring down at it all. Damn it, he'd liked that cup a lot. Sullenly, he began gathering up the pieces to throw them away. It was completely useless now; too far broken to repair. He didn't care a shred for William's burn. The shit probably deserved it.

 

The brunet ran to the shower, threw the bathroom door closed, and jumped into the cubicle, clothes and all. He put the cold water on full blast and sank to the ground, scarcely able to breathe. Eventually he got his shirt off, and there was faint scalding in the center of his chest. Nothing like the other burns scarring his body, but he'd still been triggered very badly nonetheless.

 

Sebastian's words had been insult to injury. William had been helping, in the best way he knew how.

 

Sebastian was unaware of what exactly he had done, but even if he did, he really would not have cared. William pissed him off enough that Sebastian was even willing to deliberately trigger him to get back at him. It was very fortunate that Sebastian was unaware of what had just happened.

 

He was, though, puzzled when he heard the shower turn on so suddenly. It was more customary for William to go sulk on the couch after any sort of argument or tussle, so he just glared in the direction of the bathroom. "Don't use up all my hot water," he barked. "I have to shower, too."

 

With that, he stalked right back to his mat to go back to stretching. It would help him cool off.

 

William didn't get out of the shower, not even hearing Sebastian's orders, and remaining there even when an hour went by.  
He had to get out of this place. That bastard surely knew he'd just burned a burns victim. He clearly had no morals, and William rather loathed him. Sebastian didn't appreciate his intelligence, or what abilities he did have.

 

He needed to find somebody else who could take him in.

 

Sebastian ended up leaving without William, locking him in and getting dressed without showering. Stretching again hadn't improved his mood; he figured William was having a temper tantrum. He left without William, and went about his usual business instead of getting new clothes for the fussy scientist. With his temper high, he was not in any mood for negotiations, and as a result, got into quite a brawl with one of his drug dealers. Sebastian was a lot larger and stronger than the other man, and beat him nearly to death, though he wasn't without his own injuries.  
He took all of the drugs the dealer had on him and left, remorselessly, to bring back some more food now that his supply was depleting quicker with another person partaking in it. He came back with rice and pasta; easy, filling meals that would last a while if used sparingly. It was hours and hours after he'd left the bunker before he returned, bleeding, bruised, and limping.

 

William had wrapped himself up in a ball of blankets, and he was currently hiding away in a broken cryogenic freezer. Over the last hour he'd transferred all his science items to the freezer and set up a work area, to hopefully minimise the amount of time he’d have to see Sebastian for.

 

He figured he'd find a way out of this place soon enough.

 

Sebastian was surprised and pleased to see that William appeared to have moved his belongings elsewhere from the couch. He checked the laboratory to figure out where he had gone, and it wasn't long before he found the broken freezer and opened the door. "Are you still sulking?" he asked disdainfully when he spied the bundle of blankets that William had sort of claimed. "Jesus Christ. It was just coffee."

 

William was stunned when Sebastian opened the door to his freezer, he'd thought the door locked. He guessed that was broken too.  
"Get the fuck out," he hissed. "Piss off! I don't want to talk to you."

 

Sebastian stayed right where he was. "Tell me, Princess, how have I offended you this time?" he sneered, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't you dare tell me to get out in my own house."

 

"You won't let me leave, so at least give me this fucking box to have as my own space, will you?" William uttered, bundling tighter in his blankets. "Just this fucking 4.5 by 2 meter box."

 

"You know, for a scientist, you're really fucking stupid. Stop having this fucking temper tantrum, act like an adult, and tell me what the fuck is wrong now!"

 

William got up promptly, and popped him in the face with his right fist. "Shut the fuck up and get out," he shouted, his pupils retracted to points. "Get out, you fucking bastard. I said to leave me alone."

 

In an instant, Sebastian was on him, and he fought as dirty as he could. He knew a person's weak points, and that on top of him being taller and more fit than William, he brought him down in moments -- a knee to the groin, fingers to the eyes, and a fist to the nose. He grabbed William's wrists and forced them behind his back, shoving him against the wall. He was suddenly remarkably calm, his eyes steely and cold. "Do not. Test me," he growled, very quietly, into William's ear. "Talk. Now."

 

William had certainly expected this from him, and he spat out blood, blinking rapidly and trying to see past his watering eyes.  
"Fine. You're a fucking asshole, and I really don't like you. You treat me like shit. My accomplishments mean nothing to you because I can't fight. And if you didn't know that burning me with coffee might have been more than a bit triggering, you don't care regardless."

 

Sebastian narrowed his eyes and kept his grip steady. "You know why I treat you like 'shit', as you claim?" he hissed. "Because since the moment you stepped in here, you've shown no respect for me, either. You have the gall to give me orders in my own house, while I'm giving you food and shelter that I really have no obligation to. The very reason you're alive right now is because I find you valuable. It's not that you can't fight, it's that you won't. You're always making excuses."

 

His blood trickled from his nose and down onto his muddy shirt, dirtied from his earlier brawl.  
"If you actually began training and building up your strength, you do realize you could do a lot more damage than what you did to me just now? And, oh, believe you me, I could do so much worse than what I've done already. I could have chained you up and made you my personal sex slave. You know why I haven't? Because I at least have that much respect for you as a human being. You're honestly lucky as hell that it was me who rescued you and not someone else." He turned and spat blood from his own mouth. "And what the hell do you mean by 'triggering'?"

 

William had actually tuned out once Sebastian started blathering about 'no respect', since William knew for a fact that he was actually quite respectful to the man, even if it was in a hesitant sort of way. He respected Sebastian's survival abilities, and his physical prowess. And William had no combat training, so no, he couldn't fight. Any idiot could hold a gun, though.

 

When he heard 'triggering', he glanced back up at him. "What, don't you understand the term?" he hissed.

 

"No, I don't," Sebastian replied bluntly. "Enlighten me with your wisdom, four-eyes. Because clearly I'm too stupid to understand, isn't that right?"

 

William nodded agreeably. "I'd draw it for you, but I'm afraid I'm pinned to the floor right now. Say somebody's swimming in the ocean one day, and they get bitten by a shark. After that, they're afraid of the ocean, because of the terrible memories of the shark incident. And then, one day, somebody throws this person into waters that are possibly shark infested. What do you think happens to that person?"

 

"Arsehole," Sebastian muttered irritably in response to the condescending tone. "I dunno, I guess they freak out and panic?"

 

"Yes," said William flatly. "Ever heard of post traumatic stress disorder? And those people have awfully fucking horrible memories of that incident, flashbacks that seem all too bloody real, even if there were no sharks in the water. They can't help it. Being in the water triggers those memories."

 

Sebastian stared back at William just as flatly. "...So you get triggered by spilling coffee on yourself?" he asked incredulously.

 

William snarled at him. "I get triggered by getting burned, you inane, moronic, stupefied imbecile. And yes, hot coffee does have that fucking effect."

 

Sebastian tightened his grip on William's wrists. "Stop calling me stupid, you arse. I'm sick of your self-important, pretentious attitude," he snapped. "Fine, I get it."

 

William cringed. "And what has that even accomplished? Just you realizing that triggering someone is a fun activity, maybe?"

 

"Guess not, since it seems to make you even more of an insufferable twat than usual," Sebastian growled, letting go of him and getting up, but staying on his guard.

 

William got up to his feet, wiping blood from his nose and leaning against the wall. "Well, now you know," he said. "Currently, we have no further business with each other, so get the hell out.”

 

"Stop bloody ordering me around!" Sebastian snapped icily. "I'm not your goddamned butler!"

"I shouldn't have to take this nonsense from you. I'm a world-fucking-renowned scientist, nominated for the Nobel prize in chemistry. I won't be treated like shit by a convict just because he's found a place to squat and has a lot of guns," he snapped.  
He got up suddenly, cramming things into his pockets.  
"I've had enough."

 

Sebastian had had quite enough, as well, and he turned away, gritting his teeth. "Fine. Get out. See if I give a fuck. I don't want to be saved by such a stuck-up piece of shit anyway," he snapped right back. "We'll see how long you'll last with your magnificent brain."

 

"Intolerable cunt, aren't you," William scowled under his breath, and stalked out of the freezer. But just before Sebastian could follow, William slammed the doors closed and jammed a piece of metal in the handles.  
It wouldn't give him much time, but it would be enough to pack a bag full of food, weapons, research and personal items, and he stole some of the raven's clothes as well as a sturdy pair of leather boots. Last to pick up was a gas mask.

 

With that, he took his radio and left the lab, following along his mental map to find his way out. He wasn't about to steal Sebastian's stupid bike, which left him on foot, but there was no reason Sebastian should come after him anyway, unless he really loved his clothes.

 

Outraged, Sebastian immediately began slamming his shoulder against the doors, only to end up dislocating it. He was completely in the dark, which didn't bother him, but he didn't exactly want to be shut up in a small, enclosed space. He spewed curses and profanity to the scientist, shouting abuse at him and hurling every curse he knew at the other man.

 

When he finally managed to break out, William was long gone. It didn't take a genius to see that things had been stolen -- food and water, most importantly, and one of the gas masks. Then he found his wardrobe's door hanging open, and discovered that his backup pair of boots were absent, along with --

 

"That son of a bitch -- " he spat, going white with rage. "That goddamned fucking piece of -- of dog shit -- he took -- Granddad's -- !!!"

 

In an instant, he threw on the remaining gas mask and tore out of the laboratory as fast as he could, locking it up hastily behind him. His bike was still there, so that only made it easier. Sebastian would pursue him on foot, hunt him down, and murder him if he had to.


	3. The Exalted One

\--

William had had an hour to escape, and using his running ability to his advantage, he quickly escaped the underground highway. This left him free to find a place to hide, and it was like finding a needle in a haystack. He was very paranoid about leaving any tracks, and after half an hour of walking, he decided to take shelter. He just couldn't shake the feeling that Sebastian would come after him. 

He found a very nondescript pub and decided to hide there, locking every door behind him before settling down behind the counter, concealed from view.

Suddenly there was a click, from a shotgun being cocked and readied to fire in the darkness. "Who's there?" came a quiet, calm voice, with slow, neat footsteps coming closer. The owner of the gun drew closer to the light, face obscured by another gas mask.

William startled a bit, immediately. "Uh-- I'm not armed," he uttered. He saw the stranger had one of the infection detectors, a device which William himself had built seven months ago with a team of scientists. 

"You can test me, I'm not infected!"

The other man paused, lowering the gun slightly and staring through his mask. There were a few seconds of silence, and then -- "...William?"

William's eyes widened. He recognized that voice, surely...

"I-I'm William Spears," he replied quickly. "Who are you?" His hands were still held in the air submissively. There was naught but the sound of muffled breathing for a few seconds.

The other man put the gun back on safety, set it aside, and reached up to remove his mask and show his face. It was Claude Faustus, the man who William had previously believed to be dead. He didn't look much worse for the wear -- he had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, and his glasses had a crack in them, but otherwise he seemed to be just fine. He looked at William as if he were seeing a ghost.

"....Claude..!" William gasped, having never been happier to see someone before. "I thought-- I thought you were dead!" He pulled his mask off and joined him quickly, clasping his hand. "I thought I was the only survivor," he whispered, almost tearing up. "Thank god you're alive."

Claude openly pulled William into a tight embrace for a moment, appearing equally relieved to have found another survivor. "I thought the same of you!" he gasped back as he broke the hug. "When I woke up...everyone else was dead, and there was no sign of you. I was afraid -- you'd been turned..."

It was such a long time since William had been held in such an affectionate manner. "O-oh, no....No, I hid," he whispered, a bit ashamed. "I didn't have a weapon, or a snowball's chance in hell. So I hid, and eventually a man rescued me. I've stayed with him this last month, but he was absolutely horrible, so I've just run away, and he'll kill me if he finds me..."

Claude looked at William in concern. "A man?" he asked with a frown. "How did anyone find our bunker? Who is he?"

"It doesn't really matter now," said William. "I think he followed the zombies, looking for things to steal. Do you have a safe place?" William asked desperately. "Have you seen any other survivors?"

Claude's shoulders sank and he sighed through his nose, shaking his head slowly. "I'm afraid not," he said quietly. "Until just now, I was sure I was the only survivor. But I have found this place..." he picked his gun back up, but held it loosely at his side, and gestured to William to follow him. "It has a wine cellar. Looted of anything of value, of course, but I've discovered that the air is at least clean down there, and it's secure enough. I've been here for the past month, trying to salvage anything of use that I possibly can. There's little to work with for the cure or anything beneficial."

"Well....look what I've got," William said in a low voice as he followed him down to the wine cellar. "I've been drawing it up all week. It's an exact copy of the other man's map, locating sights of infected, and more importantly, trade posts. Maybe we can join up with a friendlier group. I have guns, and food, and...we'll be okay, together."

Claude turned on the light, which consisted of a single, bare light bulb with its switch dangling down on a string. He adjusted his glasses to see William's map, and his eyes widened. "This is...incredible," he whispered, looking relieved. "You always were the most resourceful of us. I expect nothing less from our brightest." He traced a leather-gloved finger along the routes that were deemed safe, looking at locations that contained resources for survival. "Absolutely brilliant, William...I believe we have a greater chance for survival together."

"Thank you," said William earnestly, feeling the first tiny swell of happiness that he'd felt in a long time. "I would like to think so too," he replied. "We have to get away from Sebastian. These traders are friends with him, so we'll have to pay them well to ensure they don't tip him off as to where I am. It's okay, though-- we can offer them more than Sebastian can. We have our minds, and that is not easily found these days." 

William then opened his bag and pulled out the radio. "I can make technology for them."

However, instead of focusing on this good news, Claude's brow furrowed when he heard Sebastian's name, and he looked up at William in alarm. "Sebastian. Not Sebastian Michaelis?" he asked, paling somewhat. "Malphas, The Black Plague?"

William lowered his radio in disappointment, frowning. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "Malphas is a fictitious demon in the Ars Goetia."

"It's one of his aliases," Claude explained very quietly. "William...you are extremely, extremely lucky to be alive. It's nothing short of a miracle that you've gotten away from him. Michaelis is an escaped convict, wanted for several counts of murder and sexual assault."

Surprise registered on William's face, and he looked a little sick. 

"Christ...I knew he was a convict, but I didn't know what he was charged for. To be honest, I really didn't want to know."

Claude sat back and removed his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I imagine he's still handcuffed, then? He did always like to taunt the authorities with them...to show them that he could be captured, but not contained. They still don't know exactly how many victims have fallen to him. Dozens, likely." He replaced his glasses and looked seriously up at William. "I will do everything in my power to keep you out of his radar. He's clever, and resourceful, but not nearly so much as minds like yours and mine. You will be safe from him here."

William nodded, walking over to a corner and pulling a blanket from his pack, setting it down. "Just stay wary," he warned him, digging some food out of his pack: some cheese, a few dried strips of meat, and his skin of water.

"I most certainly will," Claude replied with a nod. He gathered a few supplies of his own -- a camping pad to lay on the ground for a softer bed, a worn-out duvet, and a pillow -- and brought them to William to share with him. "I have a few things to spare...just in case someone ended up surviving the attack. It looks like they'll be useful after all."

William rather leaned against the man, relieved to have found a safe place after that hell.   
He offered some of what little food he had to the handsome man, British like himself, though with a bit of a German streak. 

"I'm glad it's you that survived," William murmured after a moment. "I'm glad I left that place."

Claude had been close with William in their bunker, closer than any of the other scientists working there. Their relationship could almost be described as brotherly, if not even more profound than that. He offered William a comforting arm and pulled him into a gentle, sideways embrace as he accepted some of William's food. "I'm very glad, as well. If anyone was to survive, I'd hoped very much it was you," he replied. "I missed you quite a lot."

William closed his eyes, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief now, like things might finally be okay. "How did you do it?" he whispered after a few minutes of peaceful silence. "How did you survive, Claude?"

Claude exhaled slowly through his nose, looking at one of the strips of dried meat in his hands. "I'm not entirely certain, myself," he replied quietly. "Like I'd said...I'd passed out. Without any movement coming from me, I must have been ignored by the Sick Ones, presumed to be dead. But when I woke up, they had all been killed so expertly, and everyone else had died from their injuries." He shuddered a little. "So you were rescued by Michaelis...the wounds inflicted on the Infected certainly did look like his handiwork, now that I think back. I just don't understand why on Earth he left you alive."

"Claude, they feasted on the dead," William said quietly. "I s-saw. Why would they just leave you there?"

Claude just shook his head again. "I don't know. I don't understand it, either. I wasn't conscious for most of the incident, so...I could not tell you what happened. It's possible that Michaelis arrived before they could get to me, but...that's merely speculation."

"Well...you're lucky," said William with a little sigh. If Claude had been bitten he would have turned long ago, so at least there wasn't that to worry about. "I don't suppose you have any...sort of burn cream on you?" he asked tentatively. His chest had been prickling uncomfortably all day and even that in itself was a bit triggering.

The other scientist nodded, looking over William with concern; he knew of William's triggers, of course. "I have some medications that I was able to salvage from a pharmacy," he replied, getting up and going to the empty shelves that once held wines and spirits. He found a first-aid kit and brought it back to William, opening it up and searching through it before finding aloe vera and handing it over to his colleague.

William thanked him and eased his shirt off carefully, opening up the aloe vera, and tenderly applying it to his chest without a word to Claude. Claude knew a lot about William, and vice versa. There wasn't much that had to be said.

The burn still looked rather fresh, and Claude looked concerned as he watched William apply the medicine and made sure he covered the entire burn. "Did he...ever harm you, William?" he asked quietly.

William didn't glance up. "Not until today. If you mean this, though...it was sort of an accident. He grabbed me and I spilled my coffee by accident." He cringed at the memory. "Not that he gave half a fuck. But I punched him in the face a few hours later, since he wouldn't leave me alone. He didn't like that."

Claude nodded slowly in understanding, though he was rather surprised at William's crude language. He didn't comment on it. "I see. I'm sorry that happened. I'm just very relieved that you're alive, and for the most part, unharmed."

William wouldn't have admitted in a thousand years that being in such uncivilized company might have had an affect on his vocabulary. He relished Claude's refined attitude very much, he'd missed it. 

"Thank you. I feel the same about you." 

It was a happy reunion for them both, and the next week or so passed by before either of them knew it. The two men were eager and happy to have a science friend back to be open and intellectual with, and it helped the time pass by so quickly. There was a very good atmosphere in the dim, cramped little wine cellar, but it seemed to be home. They were at ease with each other, back with something familiar. Often, laughter would ring out, a welcome change from the terror and uncertainty of the past month.

A little over a week after William had stumbled upon the pub and reunited with Claude, the latter approached William with an announcement: he had been able to get in touch with one of the groups as indicated on the map, completely by chance, who had agreed to take them in. "We won't be by ourselves anymore," Claude declared, clearly excited. "We'll have more resources and be able to get working on the cure again very soon! Just imagine the possibilities -- " 

It hadn't taken much to persuade William along, and together they packed up what little belongings they had in the cellar before donning their gas masks and heading back up to the surface, journeying to the nearby group. It was always so unsettling to be back on the streets, once so full of life and movement, and now so eerily silent and still.

William had stuck very close to Claude as they prowled the streets, sticking to the shadows whenever possible. This was an abandoned zone, after all, but supposedly Infected-free.   
After an hour on foot, they'd made it to the supposed settlement where this group would be located. 

"How are we supposed to know where they are?" William asked, the gun that he had no hope with in a real fight trembling in his hands.

Claude examined a copy of William's map that he'd made, so they would each have one. "They mentioned that they have an insignia that is very easy to recognize amongst each other, as it's a little unusual," he responded, voice muffled behind his mask. "Likely they'll have a makeshift flag, or have painted some surface with their symbol to indicate that they're nearby -- " Just as he looked up, he spotted what looked like the image of a farmer's sickle spray-painted onto a brick wall. " -- like that," he finished flatly, with the quirk of a brow. 

He approached it cautiously and stowed his map away inside his coat. "They're expecting us...so hopefully no one on guard will mistake us for intruders or Infected. We're wearing masks, so I doubt the latter case...still...caution would be wise."

William nodded, a step or so behind Claude as they approached the building. He wish he'd made some sort of white peace flag, because all it would take was one shot and then he'd be dead. 

"Surely we don't just walk in the door? Or do we knock?" William's heart was racing, as much as he hated it.

Claude looked all around them, up and down, 360 degrees, to see if there was anyone in plain sight. "I think we're meant to knock," he replied, approaching the wall and gently rapping at it with his knuckles. There was a doorway nearby with the insignia painted again, but there was no doorknob -- obviously it was an emergency exit that could only be opened from the inside. He knocked there, as well. The door opened quiet suddenly, almost hitting Claude in the face, but he reflexively stepped back just in time. He glanced back at William. 

"I suppose that's our invitation," he commented, cautiously stepping over the threshold and making sure William was right behind him. 

This place was not gifted with electricity, as very few places were. Everyone had candles with them, and they were placed on almost every surface available. There was no natural light; all the windows had been boarded up to prevent unwanted entry. It didn't look like a refugee camp, as Claude had described it on their way over. The people inside were almost exclusively adult men, with very few women among their numbers, and no children to be seen or even heard. They were very still and quiet as they watched the newcomers enter.

William immediately felt a bit uneasy here. He wasn't about to announce it, but he could probably get electricity up and running here within a few days. 

People were staring at them, almost as if they were intruders. And their clothes did not say 'apocalypse survivor,' still rich in colour and fairly undirtied or torn. They seemed to prefer to wear long, robe-like clothing. Barely any women, mostly Caucasian men, though there were a few people of colour here and there. 

William hoped someone was going to greet them and welcome them in, instead of leaving them stand here forever. After a few very uncomfortable moments, he then sighted someone approaching.

The man who approached stopped before William, reaching up to remove William's mask and examine his face. He appeared to be in his late forties, with unkempt, graying, sandy-blonde hair and a pasty white face. "This is him?" he asked quietly, looking into William's eyes. He wasn't speaking to him, but to Claude.

Claude turned back toward the door. "Yes," he replied. "As promised. Do what you will with him." Once this was said, the graying man approached him and pressed something into his hands. Claude pocketed it and smiled over his shoulder at William.

"Goodbye, William."

William's head snapped around. "Goodbye--?!" He was grabbed from behind immediately. "H--Oi-- what in the blue blazes are you doing!? Stop! Let go of me! Claude, what's--what's going on?!" he cried as he was immediately bound from behind. 

"You're being used for a higher purpose, instead of your blaspheming," someone said nearby.   
Around him, there were malicious smirks on the faces of the people. 'Higher purpose'? They were some kind of fucking cult, William should have known!

Claude exited through the doorway they had just entered, saying nothing further. He disappeared, just a silhouette now, and the door closed, shutting out all light from the outside. 

"We're going to be the next step in evolution," one of the other robed figures added. "You should be honored that you get to partake in such a sacred task." He began removing William's clothing while another man stood by with a robe in hand.

Claude had...Claude had betrayed him--

Pieces of the puzzle were still missing, but William was sure now that Claude had been the reason the Sick Ones had invaded their bunker and killed everyone he held dear. William struggled, fought and bit and scratched, not one to give up quite so easily. Still, he was sure his heart had broken. 

Claude was his closest friend. Was. Had been. 

"What are you going to do!?" William demanded of these people. The next step in evolution; what arrogance. 

"Show you the beauty you were trying to destroy," said the man in front of him. "Such a gift....Take him to the Exalted One." 

William was promptly hauled off down a corridor, into a room filled with more of the candles, and on the far wall an altar had been assembled. Some sort of shrine. Nearby, he could hear faint growling.

They forced the scientist into one of their robes, taking his outfit away, to some other room. The graying man who held onto William smiled like this was the grandest thing that had ever happened to him in his life. "Behold," he cried, waving an arm in a grandiose gesture. "Our future: a higher existence!" 

As they drew closer, it became horrifyingly apparent what the source of the growling was. Chained heavily to the wall was one of the Sick Ones, its body half decomposed, eyes black and sunken, teeth rotting and falling out, clothing mere tatters of threads. It resembled little more than a skeleton that had been wrapped in gray, decaying skin, to the point where it was impossible to determine if it had once been male or female in life.

The smell it gave off was utterly putrid, like rotting meat and horribly neglected bodily hygiene -- even at a distance, it reeked of sour body odor even on top of the dead and dying flesh. The robed men around William gazed at it adoringly, like it was their precious child.

William stared at it in stunned horror. "What...you're not going to....?" 

His fears were quickly confirmed as they began pushing him towards the hideous thing on the wall. 

"Are all the preparations made?" someone called out. 

"Yes, sir!" 

"Begin the rites, then!" 

The fear truly set in as he drew closer, step by step. One bite, and his life was useless.   
"No!" William cried. "No, stop! Th-these creatures are sick, infected with a v-virus! They're practically mindless drones! These are not the next step in evolution, please, you must listen! Please!" 

He was struck hard in the head suddenly by something very heavy and nearly staggered into the reach of the Contaminated. 

"Such a vile, heretic one. You do not deserve this..."

All at once, there came a loud, resounding bang -- a gunshot. The Sick One's movements and raspy, throaty growling ceased together, and its head slumped down. Congealed, dead blood oozed from a single wound right in the center of its forehead.

There was silence, and then utter panic from the cult. "THE EXALTED ONE! IT'S -- !!" "WHO DARED -- ?!" "OUR HIGHER EXISTENCE, GONE -- " Cries arose between anguished exclamations, and they scattered like ants who'd lost their trail. 

Out of the dark, like a shadow, a dark figure darted between every member of this strange and horrifying cult. Wherever the dark figure moved, a man fell with a scream of pain, and blood splashed onto the floor in heavy, alarming amounts. It was not unlike the scene in the secret bunker not too long before, only this time, the ones falling were healthy, sentient human beings.

Sebastian Michaelis stood alone among the carnage, blood staining his clothes, his face, his hair, and dripping from the long crowbar he carried. He stared William down with a frighteningly empty expression without a word or movement.

William was on his knees. Everything had happened so fast, he felt dizzy. He couldn't think straight. His nervous bladder had gone and kicked in again, and he could feel the warm urine darkening his robe, but he wasn't paying it any attention. 

The brain's natural fight or flight instincts were in motion, and he could focus only on finding a place to hide before someone killed him too. He fled for the room where they'd taken his clothes, and he closed the door quietly, hiding behind a box pitifully.

Sebastian didn't pay William much mind. Once the scientist had fled, the convict reached into his pockets and produced lighter fluid, spraying it across as much of the room as he could. This building was far too contaminated to save. If any animals or birds came, attracted by the rotting corpses as a potential meal, the disease would spread even faster. Everything had to be burned. 

He lit a cigarette and had a long, casual draft from it before flicking it onto the 'Exalted One's remains. It caught fire instantly, and it spread quickly. Sebastian turned his back on the climbing flames and went to the room where he knew William had gone. He scanned the room first, and ignored the trembling scholar for now as he found the clothing that had been stolen from him. He took the bomber jacket and put it on without a word, feeling the worn leather and soft sheepskin lining before taking the rest of the clothing back and putting them in his bag. 

With his jacket back, he turned to face William now, finally properly acknowledging him. "I don't think you want to see any fire right now, so I'd recommend that you come with me before it spreads," he said calmly. In the shrine room, the rafters began to collapse and fall, resulting in explosions of sparks.

As if things could have possibly gotten worse for William, now the building was on fire, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd been so overwhelmed. William's backpack of worldly belongings was in this room, but if it was any indication as to how frightened he was, he ran from the room without it. 

He didn't want to be near Sebastian. He didn't want to be near the Infected. He didn't want to be near the fire. 

So overcome with fear, William ran like the wind, straight down to the emergency exit, and practically kicked it open. 

The first thing he felt was rain touching his face. It had been overcast all day, and now the rain had come, heavy but rather warm. 

So things actually could get worse. 

Without warning, he promptly started laughing where he stood.

A minute or two later, Sebastian emerged, carrying William's backpack loosely at his side. The rain began washing the blood from his face fairly quickly, and he watched William just break apart and begin laughing out of panicked hysteria. As if the situation could possibly not get even more difficult. 

Sebastian blinked slowly and lazily, approaching William from behind and watching him laugh. He let William let out his mania for a while, and then took him firmly by the wrist. 

"Whenever you're done freaking out, it'd be a nice time to get the hell out of here," he muttered.

The raven felt very, very tired, dealing with this, feeling like perhaps William was a child he'd unexpectedly had to take care of. He let William laugh, and just sort of tugged him along behind him so that they moved further away from the burning building. Once they were far enough away from the site, Sebastian made William put his gas mask on, supposing he would just have to wait out whatever was happening to William before they could make any progress again.

William calmed down on the walk away from the site, a sort of solemnitude settling in instead. Though it was likely Sebastian would probably kill him, or at the very least make him his sex slave, he let himself speak anyway. 

"He betrayed me," William announced miserably as he trudged behind him. "My closest friend. It all makes sense now. He lead them right to us in the first place."

"Life's a bitch," Sebastian muttered, making him sit down once they were under some cover. He was on high alert for any other members of the cult, for anyone who might have survived. "After a year of this hell, nothing should surprise you anymore."

William sat down listlessly, naturally he still felt absolutely awful. "...What are you going to do with me?" he questioned, figuring he might as well know.

Sebastian shrugged. "Dunno. Make you build another radio or something. Y'know...I was pissed as all hell when I saw you took my granddad's jacket. But now I've got it back and I'm feeling a little zen right now so I think I'll just take you back and just have you fix anything I think of at my place." He exhaled tiredly through his nose and pushed William's backpack back at him.

"You can take my radio," William said sullenly. "I don't need it. Let's face it; You don't want me there. I don't want to be there." Still, it wasn't as if he had anywhere to go now. Claude had turned on him...even the thought made his heart ache. "Fuck...."

Sebastian was already reaching for another fag. He lit it and stuck it thoughtfully between his lips. "No, not really," he agreed. "But I've kind of been thinking since you've been gone. Look, I don't think if you can trust that sorry excuse for a 'friend', you can't trust anyone. But for now, I'm pretty much all you've got, as far as a steady place to stay. And...let's face it, I can't do all those brainy science things without you." There was a pause, and then he clarified, "The stove stopped working again."

"Oh." William stared up at the blackened sky, and side. "For now, then. I'll fix your things, and...I'll try and find myself someone else to stay with...after that." He was sure it would be easier for the both of them, that way.

"Fair enough," Sebastian murmured, watching the rain pour down. It was a terribly humid day, so the rain didn't help much. He preferred snow, as he thought it was quieter. "I'd probably better teach you how to shoot, too," he added as an aside. "I told you, brains alone aren't enough out here."

William rubbed his temples. "Right....I'll teach you how to fix the stove." He was silent for a while, rather enjoying the rain by now, then he asked, "...What were you doing there? Did you really come all that way to steal your jacket back?"

Sebastian yawned slowly, catlike. "Mostly," he admitted. "Wasn't going to let you run off with it. It was my grandfather's; that's why I was so pissed. Otherwise I would've probably ended up ignoring the fact you'd gone. I didn't miss you much...it was quieter. I like quiet."

William didn't have the energy to roll his eyes. "You really should just piss off, then," he grumbled. "I think I've already changed my mind about staying with you." He shifted himself around on the bench, sitting to face the other direction.

Sebastian leaned back, listening to the droplets hit the empty streets. "You've really got no other choice if you definitely want to stay alive," he muttered disinterestedly. "As of right now, you have no other source of food or shelter. You said yourself it was temporary. I'll find you someplace that isn’t some barmy cult."

Feeling very depressed, William just stood up. "I really don't want to go with you, but as you say, I don't have much of a choice. So let's just go before I really do change my mind."

Sebastian stood up as well, again pushing William's backpack to him, but this time actually pushing it into his arms until he was sure the other man was holding it. "Fine by me. Let's get going, then," he returned as he began to walk.

This time, Sebastian drove fairly normally, though he did still speed quite a bit. With the roads deserted, he had that much freedom, so why not? He stopped once about halfway back to siphon the petrol from an abandoned sedan on the side of the road, taking very good care to not spill a drop. The motorcycle's tank filled quickly, and the rest of the fuel he stored in a gasoline can, for emergencies. Once he'd replenished his supply, they were off again and back at the laboratory in no time.

William got on without complaint and allowed the raven to take him all the way back to that hated lab. He didn't say a word as he arrived, just finding somewhere private and stripping out of the wet robe, and changing into something dry.

Sebastian had been gone the entire time William had, stalking him and tracking his every movement, so the lab was a little cold and dusty. He didn't have much in the way of heating, not even a fireplace, so it would be a little difficult for them to warm up.

With his clothes on, William found his trusty pile of blankets and curled up on the couch, just sitting and staring into the distance. He tried not to shiver, since that would probably warrant some kind of snide remark from Sebastian about how real men don't get cold.

Sebastian opted for a hot shower, instead. He took very fast showers, to save his water. Even then, he made sure his shower water didn't go to waste, as the drain lead to a reservoir that he would regularly filter out and store away for emergencies. He was very resourceful.

When he climbed out of the shower, he threw on a T-shirt and jeans, pulled a six-pack of beer from his stash, and flopped down on the couch. He was quiet for a moment, not moving or saying anything, but he took a can of beer from the pack and held it out to William. "Here. You look like you could use something to drown your sorrows in."

William turned his head and looked down at the offered drink. "....." He didn't really drink alcohol. Mostly because it was a luxury and they couldn’t afford to dull their senses.   
This didn't stop him from grabbing the can and cracking it open. "Yeah...."

William didn't feel comfortable with Sebastian, not a bit. But he took the can and drank deeply from it nonetheless, once again pondering his fate. Who the hell would even take him in....and how could he trust they weren't cultists? 

Sebastian nodded and made a small noise like a "mm", but it held the distinct meaning of 'yeah, I thought so'. He took a can for himself and drank heavily from it, letting the rest of the pack dangle precariously from his fingers. For once, the silence that followed was a comfortable one. Sebastian gazed off to the side, not really looking at anything in particular. He was more occupied with his thoughts. 

Mostly, he didn't understand why he'd brought William back even though they hated each other. He didn't know why exactly the idea of him leaving again made him almost uncomfortable. He supposed that perhaps he'd simply grown accustomed to having company, and had, by some chance, become lonely without him. Apparently having other human beings around was a good thing.

"You know..." he started, almost considering telling William he had been lonely, but changing his mind at the last second, "I'd been looking for that cult for a while.” This was true. "That wasn't all of them, just one branch...but I finally found one, thanks to you. They're completely off their rockers and need to be stopped."

"Congratulations, then," said William sullenly. "You definitely found them, alright. They were trying to turn me, the lunatics...." He shuddered a bit at the memory and drank a bit more. He was starting to feel the buzz of the alcohol.

"Yeah, I know they were," Sebastian replied, nonchalantly handing William another beer. "That's what they do to 'outsiders'. I didn't know they were into actually buying people, though. Mostly I was just aware of kidnappings. But turning people...hell, I don't even want to know what goes through their heads."

William put one empty can down and took another. "...They called me blasphemer. Like looking for a cure was heresy." He shook his head slowly. "To think there are people like that out there. What a sick world we live in."

Sebastian let out a little snort. "They're just idiots...I wouldn't worry too much about them. Only way I concern myself with them is getting rid of 'em all. People that mad can't have any sense talked into them. It's too dangerous to keep them alive, especially if they're keeping those monsters as pets."

William huffed. "Called it the 'Exalted One'. Like it was a God to them. That was no pet." He scooched up against the side of the couch a bit more and sighed unhappily, cracking open the second beer and taking a swig. He still felt very ill at ease talking to this man.

Sebastian knew William was uncomfortable, and he didn't blame him. He knew his reputation -- it was likely Claude had known and told William of his record. Still, he was surprised William hadn't known who he was to begin with. He was silent for a little while, swishing the liquid around inside his own can. "Hey...Four-Eyes," he muttered. "How come you stuck around me for so long, anyway? Before you left, I mean."

"Because...I'd be killed quickly if I left. And I...have a responsibility to mankind to keep myself alive...no matter how unhappy I am. What do we have if not duty and honor?" William leaned back against the couch, his vision a little fuzzy by now.

"Dunno about duty or honor or anything like that," Sebastian mumbled. "Never really had much of either, myself. I guess that's better suited for intellectuals like you. Not convicts like me, you know?" He laughed humorlessly as he had a long sip from his can.

"Are you saying you have to be smart to have duty and honor?" William asked. "Most soldiers aren't as smart as me, but they still understand the concept. And just because you've done some terrible, terrible things in your time doesn't mean you can't do better." 

Needless to say, he felt the alcohol was loosening his tongue, but having someone to talk to was good.

Even if it had to be this man, William didn't want to be alone.

Sebastian exhaled slowly through his nose and gazed out into empty space. He very much felt the same -- even though he wasn't exactly fond of William, he didn't really want to be alone anymore, either. 

"I don't think I ever did understand them," he admitted. "They had a shrink evaluate me while I was in prison, you know? I got diagnosed as a sociopath. It's true, I suppose. I don't really care much for people, I don't understand them, and I don't understand things like duty or honor. I'm not stupid, really, I'm just not like other people. When I say I tolerate you, that's actually a pretty high compliment, you know. I don't play well with others, usually."

William shook his head. How disappointing. 

"Sounds like you'll never be close to anybody, then. And sure, you might live longer, without a sense of morality. But for what?"

Sebastian shrugged. "Don't know," he mumbled. "Self-satisfaction, or something. The thing is, though...I've been living down here for the past year and I don't exactly know what it is I'm trying to do other than survive. I've done that much. Just surviving and feeding my addictions." He let out a little scoff. "That's not really 'living', though...I know that much."

"It's not," said William. "I've been feeling the same. Before, I had a purpose that drove me. And I had friends." His voice wavered ever so slightly, and he turned his head away. "That was living, almost as good as someone could hope for in this world."

Sebastian finally turned his head to look at William, examining his expression. "That must've been nice," he murmured. "I've never had actual friends. I don't blame them, though. I know I'm really...what's the word? Despicable, probably. I guess being a sociopath'll do that." He finished off his second beer and set the can aside, looking over the laboratory. 

"But you...you can probably keep working with that purpose. You've got all this equipment and stuff that I have no idea how to use. You can probably get everything fixed and working again in at least a week. What if you make the cure here?"

William shook his head sullenly. "I don't think I can do it by myself. I lack a purpose, and I lack any real companionship in this world, now. I'd count you in, but you'd probably shoot your own mother for a teenth of meth. You'd shoot me for a teenth of meth, I'm sure... I'm just waiting until someone gives you an offer."

"No," Sebastian said, more decisively than he realized. "You're worth more than that. And I mean more than meth. But there definitely are people I'd shoot for less."

"Either way...I don't think its wise to stay here. I need to find scientists. We can't have been the only ones they stowed in bunkers during the First Wave." William guzzled the last of his drink, feeling pretty tipsy by now.

"Why don't you just use your radio to look for them?" Sebastian asked, barely even buzzed. "You're probably brainy enough to get such a good signal you can get the entire country. Maybe even Europe."

"How the hell am I going to get to Europe?" William muttered. "God, this is stupid. So stupid." He lay down on the couch next to Sebastian, burying half his head into the pillow and groaning unhappily.

Sebastian quite honestly had no idea how such things even worked. He turned and looked down at William, blinking slowly. "Maybe a really big antenna?" he suggested, knowing full well it was a shot in the dark, and probably a completely idiotic one, at that.

William looked up at him sullenly then dropped his head back into the pillow. 

"Suuree," he slurred. "Let's just go shopping at Antennas 'R' Us, and then I'll just swim to Europe, on the remote chance that I actually find somebody. Jesus."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "I thought I was the dumb one. I mean you could make something to get a signal from Europe. I don't mean actually go there, unless you're serious about swimming the English Channel. It's been done."

William just buried his head into the pillow again, drunk as a sailor, and he teared up. "I don't care," he moaned.

"God, you only had two beers, Four-Eyes," Sebastian muttered under his breath, looking down at the scientist that was half in his lap. "What a lightweight..."

"My name's William," the shitfaced brunet responded. "Fucking...William T. Spears. Get it fucking right. It'd all be sooo much better if you just weren't such a bloody wanking arsehole."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Well, fine. I'll call you by your name if you promise to stop calling me "convict". How does that sound, William T. Spears?" he huffed. William was actually kind of funny when he was drunk.

"I haven't even called you that since you told me your name," replied William. "Why can't you be nicer? I do so wish for a friend..."

The raven sighed impatiently. "Well. I'm sorry for being so terrible at social cues. That's a little tough for me, being sociopathic and all." He scowled down at William for a minute. "Look, I'm sick of this bickering. If we're gonna function and keep surviving, I'll make an effort to not be a 'bloody wanking arsehole', just for you. I'll just magically turn my personality inside-out, how's that?" The intention was genuine, but the way it was said naturally came out as quite snarky and rude.

It took William all of three seconds to completely bury himself under blankets and pillows. He wanted to be friends, he'd just said it aloud, but Sebastian probably took joy out of making fun of him.

"Tomorrow," he grunted. "Tomorrow I'm seriously out of here."

Sebastian really didn't believe it, watching him burrow under the blankets and pillows. "Then we'll both be alone, and then where'll that leave us?" he asked quietly. "...At least stay until you've found some other place through the radio or something. Maybe get the Internet working again. It's too dangerous to go out, alone, without a destination in mind."

William let out a miserable sniff. "I'll fix your sshhiiit first thing tomorrow morning. I know you'd rather be alone," came his voice, muffled beneath all the covers.

Sebastian didn't reply to this at first, casting his gaze away. Since William had been gone, he'd realized just how much he needed having another human being around, and not just his visits out. Even with his acquaintances, he was very much alone. Very few things frightened Sebastian, but he had a feeling that loneliness could be one of them.   
"Not really," he said very quietly. "Not anymore."

William wasn't really sure what to say to that, in the state he was in. Though it was quite likely he'd have been just as speechless had he been sober. Instead, all he did was shift upwards, resting his head on Sebastian's thighs, then promptly dropped off to sleep.

Sebastian had rather expected William to pass out, considering how drunk he was. He was still barely more than buzzed, himself, but it was enough that he didn't care that William had fallen asleep in his lap. He thought about their alcohol-influenced conversation, and wondered how the hell they were going to get along. Their personalities just clashed so much it was hard to imagine trying to properly be civil with each other. He supposed there would be a lot of work to do. With those thoughts in mind, he drifted off to sleep, himself, not very long after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story, help get the word out! We'd really appreciate it. c:


	4. Big Ben's Swan Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> remember to share this story with your friends if you like it~

When William awoke, he was in his normal position on the couch. He couldn't remember a great deal about last night (though he could certainly remember the horrors of the day it succeeded.) He did however, have a sort of warm feeling inside him at the fuzzy recollections. Was it a good conversation? Did they get along? Hadn't they.....talked about trying to get along? 

It had to go both ways, of course. William had to be a bit nicer to Sebastian.

Sebastian wasn't in the laboratory when William woke up. His motorcycle was missing, so it was clear that he'd gone out for something. He returned sometime in the late morning, pulling a very small trailer behind his bike. It contained what was clearly a dismantled bed frame, a mattress, and bedsheets. He had gone up to the surface to search abandoned homes that hadn't been completely plundered yet; it was really his only option for such items. Shops were always the first to go, so he couldn't get anything new in this case. He wheeled the items in through the heavy doors and shut them behind him once he was back in. He spotted William and gave him a faint nod of acknowledgement. "Hey. How's your head?"

William was in the kitchen, he'd decided to make breakfast, though cooking was far from his forte. He was currently preparing bacon and eggs; quite a special treat. 

"Killing me," he responded shortly. "I tried looking for some aspirin but you have all these unlabelled medicine bottles and I'd rather not take my chances."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Sebastian replied as he bolted and locked the doors. "I ran out about two months ago and haven't been able to find any since. All the pharmacies've been looted bare."

William grumbled. "No paracetamol? Codeine? Ibuprofen?" he asked. "Nothing at all for pain relief? Ouch--!" The pan spat a bit of oil at him and he quickly backed off a little and turned the pan down slightly.

"Maybe ibuprofen," Sebastian murmured as he mentally searched his medicine cabinet -- his actual medicine cabinet, not his drug stashes. "I don't know if it'll do much good for a hangover, though. You might have to wait it out." He heard the hiss of the oil and glanced over at William, remembering the discussion they'd had about his triggers. "You should probably turn the fire down," he said a little unhelpfully. "Food burns faster if you have the heat on too high."

"Just as long as the headache goes away," William muttered. He checked the food then took it off the heat. "Made breakfast. I hope you don't mind...the bacon was getting close to its expiration and I haven't seen real bacon in months."

"Was it in the freezer?" Sebastian asked as he ventured into the bathroom to search for some ibuprofen. "It'll last longer than its expiration date if it was in there. Not that it matters much...I haven't had any bacon in a while." He found the bottle of ibuprofen and gave it a sniff; it didn't smell like stale medicine, so he was confident it would be fine. He took it and brought it out to William.

William took it gratefully, his fingers accidentally wrapping around Sebastian's when he moved to intercept the bottle. 

"It smells good though, doesn't it?" he asked as he quickly withdrew them. "The eggs are fine, too."

Sebastian’s eyes flicked down to their hands at the contact just as William pulled his hand away to take the medicine. His gaze lingered for a moment, and then he returned his attention to the meal William was cooking. The raven had to admit that it did smell pretty good once he got closer. "Yeah, I usually have fresh eggs," he replied. "The Huangs -- that Chinese family that gave us dinner a while back -- they have chickens. They're keepin' 'em alive somehow, so good for them. They usually give me some if they see me around."

"Fair enough," said William as he placed the food on toasted bread. Sebastian didn't have much in the way of condiments, but it didn't matter too much. He got two clean plates and handed Sebastian his breakfast dismissively. "There."

Sebastian took his plate and brought it to the kitchen table. It had mismatched chairs and one of the legs was too short, giving it a slight tilt. He sat down and picked up the toast, but before he took a bite, he paused. He did mean to thank him, but somehow it ended up coming out as "You didn't poison this or anything, did you?"

William set his jaw and walked off without a word to go and eat in private. At least he'd managed to cook the food well enough, but it really would have been better with some barbecue sauce and mayonnaise. God, he missed real food.

Sebastian ate in silence, knowing he'd already messed up. It was a hard change in attitude, it really was. He'd been raised around snark and sassing back and cursing, so he scarcely had any idea as to how to try and get in William's good graces. He had to take a moment to remember why this was his objective now, but he came to the conclusion that it was honestly only decent. Apparently.

He sighed and ate quickly -- and it really did taste good -- and took his dishes to the sink. When he'd cleaned up, he headed back for the trolley that he'd wheeled the bed parts in, and pushed it in front of William, not quite looking at him. 

"Hey, uh...I bet you're probably tired of sleeping on the couch all the time, so...I went out and found you this. I have to put it back together, but...you can set it up wherever you want. Make your own private space."

William glanced over at the parts sparingly, though he raised an eyebrow when he saw that Sebastian had gone and found him a bed. How unexpectedly nice of him. "Thank you," he replied rather deliberately.

Sebastian nodded and went ahead with assembling the bed. It was simple enough now that he'd already disassembled it, so he knew how it went together. "It's kinda too bad there aren't more rooms in here, but otherwise it's a good place. All the storage rooms are way the hell out of the way so I only restock in here when I'm out."

William nodded. "Well, you could try the broken freezer. It's large enough, I think, and it's better to keep your food close, so nobody can steal it," he said with a sage nod, watching him put the bed together.

"Well, yeah," Sebastian agreed amiably as he screwed two pieces together. "Still...no one knows about this place but me, and now you, and I still keep everything locked tight. It might be more useful to get the freezer up and running again. Cold storage is much better for food than room temperature. But then...it always uses a lot of power," he thought aloud. "And I mean a lot. I try to be conservative down here so I don't wear out my generators, but...ugh...I hate juggling pros and cons."

William adjusted his glasses. "You should consider alternate means of powering your generators, then. I should look into it." He shifted awkwardly on his feet, feeling at a complete loss when it came to having proper conversations with this man.

Sebastian felt at ease enough, though his social skills were quite lacking. "I don't know what else I could do," he replied with a furrowed brow. "They're fueled by petrol. I siphon it from all the abandoned cars around, but of course that can only last so long. I have no idea how long it'll last me, actually. That's why I'm always so stingy with the power."

"There's always electric battery power. Such batteries could even be recharged. Alas, we have none. We are so lacking when it comes to batteries. If I just had the right one to power the portal, who knows where we could go."

Sebastian put his screwdriver down for a moment and rested his chin in his hand, elbow leaning on the half-assembled bed frame. "Where the bloody hell do you find a battery or something like that? I'm guessing it's nothing like a car battery. It'd be too easy; there's tons of those around. I mean...could there be something like that at your old lab? Or where'd you work before the First Wave? Or I guess those places would be looted bare, probably..."

William turned to him slowly. "That lab burned to the ground," he replied. "I've just been wondering...there has to be Fausalium out there, somewhere. And if someone has it, we could trade them something....."

Sebastian exhaled impatiently. "Can we pretend for a second I know what the hell Fuhsaleem is?" he said with a bit of a scowl. "I don't know what it is, much less what it's worth. What do I have that's worth trading for it? I don't like to trade if I don't have to."

William put his hand up impatiently. "If I wanted you to bitch, I would have asked. Just go back to banging your hammer and let me worry about the complexities."

Sebastian wanted very much to punch William in the nose again. "This is a screwdriver, you dumb fuck," he snapped, whirling it around in a furious gesture. "Look, that's beside the point. I want to actually be able to understand what the hell you're talking about when you're talking about the shit you need. Because I might have seen Fuhsaleem or heard someone mention it under a different name and maybe I'll have connections that have what you need."

"You're just saying that you don't want to trade for it," William grumbled. "And it's Fau-sa-li-um. It's a very rare element that they used to say was the future of energy."

"I'd rather salvage if it's an option, is what I meant. But if someone owns it, I'll trade for it," Sebastian huffed. "Alright, so it's rare. Obviously salvaging it somewhere isn't an option. Who'll have some? Other scientists?"

"Maybe," said William sullenly. "But, I don't have the faintest clue where to find any." He sighed.

Sebastian went back to assembling the bed frame. "Then we start looking. How far does your radio signal reach right now? We'll just start with what we have."

"I haven't gotten in touch with anybody," said William. "Claude did. He knew somebody's frequency, obviously those cultists. I'll just have to spend some time, on top of the myriad of other things I will be doing around here, to send out some messages."

A thought suddenly occurred to Sebastian. "If you send out messages...will people be able to trace your signal back to here?" he asked. "Shit, probably...I don't want to be traceable. Maybe if we find someplace else to send out messages, use a different place every time so it's harder to find us..."

"Reminds me of a movie I watched called 'I am Legend,'" said William after a minute. "I think, the protagonist would go to the same secluded spot every day and send out the same radio signal, looking for help."

Sebastian was familiar with the film. It had been one of his favorites and it was almost disgustingly ironic that its scenario had become reality. "Well, then let’s do that" he responded, putting together the last of the bed frame. "It's better than nothing."

William nodded. "We should find a place with a good signal. Somewhere out in the open, preferably higher up. We need to give our location out, too. And we'll come there....maybe a few times a week? And wait for an hour...to see if anyone will come."

Sebastian shut his eyes and leaned back, trying to think. "The heart of London is probably a good meeting place. It's far away enough from here and well-known enough that it should be pretty safe. For height...I don't know, maybe if we got up Big Ben somehow? Or what's left of it, anyway."

"That'll do it, I think," William agreed. "Though I doubt it'll be easy to get there without running in to any Sick Ones." He shivered a little at the thought.

Sebastian automatically looked up to his map of London for consultation. "Well...it's been some time since I've been down that way, but the last time I heard anything, it's completely empty down there. Everything raided, all the Sick Ones killed...the only things left are the buildings themselves. As for the route...I know a safe way through the Underground. It shouldn't be any problem to get there."

"We should give it a try, sometime soon then," William decided, and that was that. Within the next few days, they'd made plans for the trip out, gathering all the necessary supplies they would need.

The gun Sebastian had used while saving William from the cult had had the very last of his ammunition. His plan was to try and barter with someone on their way back; he felt vulnerable without functioning ranged weapons. He was perfectly competent with blunt objects like his crowbar, which he had sharpened at one end to ensure death to whoever he hit, but his true area of expertise was in guns and throwing knives. He never missed, and that was especially why guns were so valuable in his hands. He did not like any chance of vulnerability, so his objective was to obtain as much ammunition as possible, enough to last them several more months if he fired sparingly. He was not above killing hostile survivors, either, if it meant he got bullets from their corpses. He carefully avoided telling William this, expecting a cringe or a lecture if he did. He didn’t want to listen to a rant on ethics, ever.

But in addition to this, he needed to make William into a better fighter. Running was all good and well, but there came a time when a man had to fight. In this godforsaken wasteland, the time to fight was often. Even if it was only for a few days, he would teach William to use his enemy’s strength against them and learn their weak points. It was William’s only hope for survival if they got separated. And Sebastian hoped to God that didn’t happen. If William died, surely so would the rest of humanity.

Over the next few days, Sebastian taught William the weak points of the human body, and the best ways to kill the Sick Ones in one hit with very little of his own strength. "You're not going to like this, but most of us try to burn their remains," he said seriously shortly before they left. "There are still birds and animals around, and they do eat any remains they find, become Sick themselves, and spread it further. Any signs of the virus, and you have to kill it on sight." He was careful to pack lighters and flammable fluids such as hair spray and oil with him for exactly that reason.

"I made a molotov, if that's any help," William chimed in, zipping up his leather jacket, followed by his boots. "But I really don't feel good, heading out without any actual guns," he said for the fifth time. He had a swiss army knife, but it didn't make him feel much better.

Sebastian nodded in understanding. "I know. I'm not comfortable either, but I haven't been able to get ammunition for my guns in months," he replied as he pulled on his prized bomber jacket. A hand automatically went to its collar, and he rubbed against the sheepskin with his thumb, as a sort of superstitious gesture for good luck. "Guns might end up being a luxury we don't get to have anymore." He sighed. "Molotovs would be very useful, though. Long range, great for distractions."

"Guns aren't a luxury, they're a survival necessity," William protested, trudging out to where the motorbike was parked. In his backpack he had several other weapons, but none of them were firearms.

Sebastian hefted his own backpack on and made sure it was clasped tightly to his chest, with no chance of it falling off of him. "With resources for them so scarce, they might as well be," he murmured as he started up his motorcycle's engine. He pulled his gas mask down over his face and fastened it tightly. "You ready?"

William bit his lip and sat himself down on the bike behind Sebastian, wrapping his arms around his waist; A gesture that was starting to become slightly less uncomfortable as time went by. "Let's come back alive," he said quietly.

Sebastian nodded, growing accustomed to the feeling of William's arms around him. It was a bit of a comfortable feeling. "Yeah. Good luck to us both," he replied just as quietly as he revved the bike up and sped out through the tunnels. He took a different route than he usually did, which would exit through the abandoned parking garage; this time, he turned the other way and went down a gentle slope, the only illumination coming from his headlights. He pushed through a rusted door and went down a ramp, and after that, they were on dusty, disused train tracks. 

They rode in silence in the abandoned Underground tunnel. When they surfaced, the light wasn't so rough on their eyes, as it was a heavily overcast day again. It would almost certainly rain soon. Eager to beat it and avoid the wet streets, Sebastian revved up and made his way to the Palace of Westminster.

William was generally a quiet passenger, provided that Sebastian went at a decent speed and took his corners neatly. He heard thunder rumbling in the distance, though, and leaned forward to speak into Sebastian's ear over the roar of the motorcycle.

"What do you think of storms?"

"Storms?" Sebastian asked, turning his head but keeping his eyes on the road. "I don't know...they're just storms. I don't like driving in them, though, if I can help it. It's harder to turn when the streets are wet." He drove over Westminster bridge as he spotted flashes of lightning off in the distance. Most likely they'd end up having to ride home in the rain, anyway.

"You really don't have positive feelings about anything, do you?" asked his passenger, glancing up at the flashes of lightning. Although he personally loved storms, riding around in one was, he agreed, not terribly tempting. "I think they're beautiful."

"I guess lightning is cool," Sebastian supposed as he pulled up at the north end of the Palace. "But, no...I don't really have much to be positive about." He looked up at the clock tower, which no longer told the correct time. Both of its hands hung down over the 6, and the entire tower visibly tilted due to its lack of maintenance. It was strange that it had been silent for about six months, now. Big Ben rang no more. 

Sebastian took his gaze away from the top of the tower and sighed, pulling himself from his reminiscing as he steered his bike into the building to keep it out of the weather and out of sight.

" 'Lightning is cool'," William repeated under his breath. Then again, this was coming from the man who called him 'Four-Eyes'. He should learn not to expect much, especially in terms of sophistication. 

He looked up at the once-beautiful British landmark and sighed a bit. "Let's just get out of the open."

Sebastian didn't even have to kick any doors in -- looters had already done that for him. The place was quite deserted and bare. All of the furniture was gone, there were no pictures on the walls, nothing remained on any desks. Piles of trash had blown in and littered the place, and Sebastian was quite sure that it was home to millions of spiders. He shut off the motorcycle's engine and pushed it inside, moving it out of the way where it wasn't immediately visible from outside. He was on high alert now, keeping an ear out for any sounds, as he climbed off the bike and drew out his crowbar. Outside, the wind was beginning to pick up and rattle what few intact windows remained.

William dug out his army knife and held it out in front of himself awkwardly. "You know what would be handy? Some kind of knife...that could reach out far. Like on the end of a stick," he murmured quietly. "So you don't have to get close." He pondered this thoughtfully, wondering if he should patent the idea as they crept through the derelict building. He brushed a bit of cobweb from his shoulders.

Sebastian actually let out a faint laugh, and thought it wasn't mean-spirited, it could easily be interpreted as such. "Y'mean a spear?" he asked with a little smile. "Or a sword?" He turned back as he waded through the piles of garbage as he began to look for the stairs. "Y'know, I heard that a lot of people in East Asia...like China and Japan and stuff...have way better leverage on the Sick Ones than we do. Because they still have ninjas and stuff, so they're, like...teaching everyone their techniques just to survive. I wouldn't mind a samurai sword."

"A spear?" William murmured. "But you don't have to throw it. Eugh--" He happened across a dead raccoon, and practically gagged. Thankfully he barely smelt it, due to his mask. "Come on, let's just go."

Sebastian actually didn't know the way up to Big Ben, so he simply wandered and climbed any stairs he found, all while keeping an eye out for anything dangerous, threatening, or salvageable. "I'll actually be shocked if we find anything alive here," he commented as they passed the raccoon.

"We won't find ourselves alive either if you don't hurry up," William replied. As a proud British citizen, he knew the way up to the clock tower, and went ahead and lead the way.

Sebastian grumbled and easily kept up with William's pace. "Is that a threat, Four-Eyes?" he responded, even though he knew it wasn't. "Sounds like one."

"There is a threat here, but it is not me," William returned flatly. "You never know what could be crawling around up here." Going up all the stairs exhausted him after a while, and eventually he was just trudging along behind Sebastian.

"I know that," Sebastian muttered, rolling his eyes behind his mask. He was very fit, but walking up so many flights of stairs was something he wasn't used to. He was breathing heavily by the time they got to the top, feeling thirsty. As he took in a drink of water, he examined his surroundings. It looked like looters had gotten this far, too, and the bells and mechanisms looked damaged and out of place. They were honestly too heavy to move, so instead they'd been defaced with paint and bullet holes. Sebastian didn't see the point in the graffiti.

William leaned against the wall when he finally got to the top. Of course, the roof had caved in some time ago. There was a huge hole in the floor where it had fallen through, and William gave it a very wide berth. He stared up at the threatening sky, which every now and then let out growls of thunder that made the hair stand up on his skin. He took his jacket off quickly, since he was hot and bothered now. Luckily, the place was empty.

Sebastian looked up at the caved-in ceiling, as well, stowing his water away and standing up straight. "Well," he murmured, joining William's side, "Let's get to work."

William trudged out. There was an overturned table beneath a few pieces of rubble, and after removing them, they set the table the right way up and stood by where the wall had crumbled away, so they could see over the city. 

After having a drink too, he dug his radio out and set it up on the table.

Sebastian kept a lookout, using a pair of binoculars to look over the city. The devastation was much more obvious from a higher altitude. Roofs all over were caving in, military vehicles were overturned in the streets, and skeletons of soldiers were still trapped inside. In one building, a helicopter had crashed into its side and remained stuck there, precariously. That was just the surface -- Sebastian was sure that inside, it was much, much worse.

William drew breath slowly, turning on the radio and turning the dials a little. 

"Calling anyone out there...We're survivors in London, England. My name is William T. Spears. I'm a scientist, and....I need a substance known as Fausalium for research that could change the world. We also need ammunition to protect ourselves from the Sick Ones. If you can help supply us with either of these, and are willing to try and strike up a trade with us, we will be here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 1 PM to 2 PM. If anyone's listening, please spread the word. If you know of a group of scientists, please contact us immediately. Thank you." 

William sighed and stepped back from the table, turning off his little microphone.

Sebastian swung his crowbar lightly in his hands as he listened to William. Once the microphone was off, he held back onto it and looked up at him. "Now what? We wait?"

"Well, I highly doubt anybody is coming today," William replied. "But why not. Let's give it a go." He sat down by a still-standing wall and fished some food out of his pack, which he always brought in case something bad happened and they couldn't get home. "I made sandwiches. Want one?"

Sebastian considered it, and then accepted. He could always use the extra energy. "Sure, why not," he replied with a shrug, wondering what kind William had made with their limited resources. He sat down beside him, but not in any relaxed position; more like a crouch.

"Cheese, onion, and I made some mayonnaise using an egg," William announced. "Which reminds me...we should swing by the library sometime, and I can pick up some books. Manuals, guides, recipes."

It didn't sound terribly appetizing, but it was better than nothing. Sebastian took one and had a bite. "Right-o, I'll just get out my library card and hope what we want isn't checked out," he replied in a cheery tone of false optimism. "That is, if the looters haven't destroyed the libraries and bookshops, too."

William glared at him and promptly shifted further away. He took a bite of his sandwich, which would have been twice as good with a little chicken and some lettuce. Nonetheless, it wasn't terrible. 

"Fine, whatever," he grumbled.

"I'm just trying to be realistic. It's not like we can just pop by whenever we feel like -- " Sebastian started, when he suddenly heard the distinctive, throaty growl of a Sick One not too far away. He lurched up to his feet, both hands on his crowbar, eyes wide and heart pounding.

William tensed up immediately, scrambling for his army knife, though he had the foresight to shove his sandwich back into his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. 

"Shit..." After a moment, more growls joined in. They were coming up the stairs, or...

Suddenly, a rotting hand thrust out from the rim of the giant hole in the floor. "Wh-what the fuck?!"

Sebastian had been watching the stairs like a hawk, and he saw nothing. When he heard the growl behind him, though he whirled around on the spot and stared in complete and utter shock as he watched the mottled hand come up. His first instinct was to stomp on it and kick it away, but just as he did, another came up. "How the fuck are they climbing?!" he shouted as he began striking the new hand. He leaned over to see how many they were potentially dealing with, and there were...

...Seven, eight...twelve...sixteen of them. All of them were climbing up to them, spider-like, their empty eyes staring up, rotting jaws agape. "Jesus, fuck -- " He quickly turned toward William. "Get the radio. I'll hold them back, get the radio and keep it safe -- " 

One of them grabbed his ankle and he gasped, whirling around again and bringing his crowbar down hard with a sickening, wet crack, splitting its skull open down the middle. It plummeted down the open maw, body shattering when it hit the bottom.

William just gaped. He'd never been so close to so many before, and he was surprised he hadn't wet himself yet. 

His hands trembled. "L-look out behind you!" He cried as one surfaced and began crawling over to Sebastian. 

William picked up a plank and hurled it, to little effect.

Sebastian turned and kicked it square in the chest, knocking it several feet over the edge to give it no hope of something to grab onto. There were still fourteen left, though, and that was not good when you didn't have a gun. He had to keep his eyes on them, and more of them were surfacing than he could deal with. "William! Get the goddamn radio!" he barked sharply as he swung the crowbar down again and again. In his shock, he didn't realize he was being backed into a corner. 

When he did realize it, he cursed himself for not noticing, and he cursed aloud as he delivered blow after crushing blow to the nearest Sick Ones. "Shit. Shit! Shit! Shiiiiit!"

William grabbed the radio and stuffed it in his bag. 

"S-Sebastian!!" He cried in horror, running up behind a more idle one and kicking it to the ground. He drove his boot into its mushy head, and nearly threw up into his gas mask as he watched its brains spurt out. 

"Oh, g...oh, god," he gagged. "Th-there's too many of them!"

Sebastian was completely cornered. "Yeah, I can see that," he snapped, literally beheading one with one swift blow from the crowbar. "Don't you fucking dare run away! We're coming out alive, remember?!" The beheaded Sick One's head was still alive and biting wildly, and Sebastian had to kick it away like it was some sort of sick, macabre soccer ball. "Do something!"

William stood there, rather paralyzed. His whole body was shaking like a leaf. 

"I don't know what to do!" he said shrilly. "I'm s-- I'm so sorry--!" A few zombies were chasing him too, and he was running around the huge hole helplessly. "Please don't die!!"

"Help!!" Sebastian shouted, bringing down one more. "Something! Anything! Just don't you fucking dare run away, you little shit! If I die, I'll fucking kill you! I swear to God!" He was pinned to the corner now and his fear showed on his face, plain as day.

William could see it, too, honest to God. Sebastian was afraid. 

William stopped, grabbing a nailed plank and smacking one of the Infected with it. Now with a little space, he opened his bag and pulled out the single Molotov cocktail he’d prepared earlier. "I need a lighter," he cried. "I-- I don't have a lighter!"

Sebastian always had several, and still flailing one arm with the crowbar to fend them off, he dove his right hand into his pocket for one. "Catch!" he shouted before it went sailing through the air in a graceful arc, right at William.

Naturally, William missed. It bounced off him and skittered across the floor towards the hole. And somehow, in a burst of courage, William leapt after it, to catch it just in time. He turned, lighting the molotov, and he couldn't have been more eager to get the flaming object of his hand anyway. "Duck!" he shouted, then hurled the bottle after him. It was at that point that a zombie rammed him from the side and knocked him over the edge.

"WILL -- " Sebastian was only able to get that much out before there was a fireball of an explosion that rattled the top of the tower and shattered the glass around and above them. He ducked down and covered the back of his head and his neck while glass rained down on the now-burning Sick Ones. When the glass stopped raining down, Sebastian got the advantage and quickly began jamming the sharpened ends of his crowbar into their heads. The second that was done, he dashed to the edge to look for William, eyes darting frantically back and forth. "William. William!"

William hadn't been able to grab anything, but the powers that be seemed to have taken pity on him that day, because he only fell about 15 feet or so before he crunched against an overhanging plank, and that broke his fall just long enough to reach out and grab the balcony. 

The plank then broke away, and William, absolutely wide-eyed with fear, and in agonising pain from being stabbed by rusty nails attached to said plank, then managed to haul himself onto safe ground. 

Sebastian managed to maneuver himself down to where William was through a series of careful but acrobatic leaps and swings. His heart was hammering painfully fast in his chest when he made it, and he crouched by his side as the flames above them began to climb higher. "Don't be dead. Hey -- Fo -- Will. Wake up. Just...don't be dead, alright? Say something..." Thunder rumbled, and rain began to fall down through the open roof.

William coughed hoarsely all of a sudden. "Hh..." He cracked his eyes open, fairly dazed, but he could see Sebastian leaning over him, and hear concern in his voice.   
He started suddenly. "The Infected--!"

Sebastian started, as well, and looked up over his shoulder, expecting to see more. There were a few that he had somehow missed, peering over the edge even as their bodies burned, creating the acrid smell of burning flesh and hair on top of the smell of death. Sebastian responded by pulling an aerosol can of hairspray from his pack, shaking it up quickly, and getting one of his backup lighters. 

"Shut your eyes -- " he warned William, and then he pressed down on the valve to unleash a fine spray. With his other hand, he lit up his cigarette lighter just under the spray, creating another massive inferno. He held the spray for about ten seconds for good measure, and then let it go, the last of the Sick Ones charred beyond function now. 

As a result, however, the flames climbed even higher. The eaves and rafters, already weakened by age and exposure to the elements, began to burn and crumble. With a great, terribly loud crack and a shower of sparks, the supports holding the bell known as Big Ben snapped like twigs and began to fall. The colossal bell rang, deafeningly loud in their ears, as it plummeted down past them. The other bells and cogs and gears and the splinters and shredded, burning support beams falling with them, ringing and clanging together and smashing through each floor of the tower before hitting the ground floor with one final, dying chime. The metal cracked from the force of the impact, and the entire clock tower trembled violently and swayed with it. A choking cloud of thick black smoke and sparks belched out from the caved-in hole in the roof, catching it ablaze, as well.

Needless to say, it was time to leave.

William couldn't remember much of what happened after that, yet another traumatic event to scar his mind. He remembered crying out in both fear and anguish, devastated as the historic item fell shattered on the floor far below. 

And yet another scenario involving fire for the poor pyrophobic scientist. There were various rusty nails and other detritus jammed into his flesh when he fell, but despite his agony, he just ran and ran and ran down the stairs, often stumbling. Being crushed beneath a building was possibly even more terrifying than a bite from one of the infected.

Sebastian dashed right after him, in no hurry to get crushed beneath a burning building, either. He made it in front of William and grabbed his hand, sprinting as fast as he could to get down to the bottom floor and to his motorcycle. For now, he didn't have time to think about why the infected ones had been there, or how they could climb, for that matter, but with these new developments, they would have to develop completely new countermeasures against them. And now, guns would become a necessity. It was all too painfully obvious that they needed them more than ever. 

When they reached the ground floor, Sebastian was completely winded, but the adrenaline running through his system refused to let him slow down. He started up the motorcycle and made sure William was right there with him, holding on tight before he sped out onto the wet streets in the pouring rain.

William held on to Sebastian tighter than ever, his head pressed to the man's back, and he didn't even have the ability to cry right now-- all he could do was gasp raggedly for breath. The rain hit his body hard, soaking his shirt quickly, but luckily his backpack was waterproof.

Sebastian would have sort of liked to stop at the safe end of Westminster bridge to watch the tower burn, but for William's sake, he kept going and he didn't look back, even in his rear view mirrors. He was gasping hard for breath, as well, and his body was shaking finely with nerves, something he could not ever remember feeling in his life. He was silent during the ride back, getting soaked through to the skin. He had never been so relieved to make it back to the laboratory, shutting off his bike's engine and shakily inputting the code to unlock the doors. 

When they got in, Sebastian's strength seemed to leave him, and he collapsed to the floor, onto his knees. God damn it, he'd been afraid. He took in deep, shaky breaths as he tried to collect himself.

William crumpled onto his favourite blanket. He hadn't even been able to make it to the bed, the exhaustion had finally beaten him. He dragged another blanket over his head, and honest to god he felt like he was going to weep. But the tears didn’t come. 

William just lay there, breathing shakily, then eventually he sat up and looked at the raven, who was sitting in a surprisingly submissive position and looking much less than his usual confident, cocky self.   
"Are you...injured?" he croaked.

Sebastian slowly shook his head, a hand resting on his still wildly-beating heart. 

"No...just...winded," he whispered back, looking back up at William. He knew William had been injured, though. "Let...lemme...treat your wound...can't be good..."

William wasn't really sure where he'd been injured, he just knew his body hurt in a lot of places. Shaking, he peeled his wet shirt off, where a large bruise was forming down his left side, accentuated with various cuts, scratches, and abrasions. 

"There's n...nails...in me," he mumbled, though it ended up coming out like a whimper. "Nails."   
Slowly, he took his trousers off, and slid them down his legs. This dislodged the one or two nails piercing his legs, though not without some considerable degree of pain.

His back had fared worst of all, punctured like a pin board, and he bore a long cut curving around his side that trickled blood.

Sebastian looked over the gruesome puncture wounds, biting his lip. He'd have to sanitize these awful wounds, and quickly. "Shit...okay. Let's get you to the bathroom. We have to clean this up or you'll get infected." He didn't have any sort of anesthetics or anything, not even chloroform. This would be painful, unless..."Okay. If you don't want to feel a hell of a lot more pain than you already probably do, you wanna have some vodka or something? It'll probably help calm you down, too."

"Yes," William replied immediately. "Fuck...yes." He didn't know Sebastian had vodka.  
His face distorted with pain when he tried to get up, the nail that had been in his knee left a wound that hurt like all hell. Tears sprung to his eyes, and he nearly toppled, but he forced himself to walk alone in any case. He was not helpless.

Sebastian had all kinds of alcohol stashed around, but vodka, he saved for emergencies, which was lucky. He didn't think William should be walking on those wounds, though, now that they were out of danger and the adrenaline had worn away. "Probably want a joint or two, too," he muttered as he walked alongside William, giving him his dignity. "Lemme go get you a drink..."

"A....joint?" William muttered, walking into the bathroom and sitting down on the toilet lid, resting his head in his hands. Well, he'd take anything that could take the edge off the physical and mental damage he'd just sustained. 

"A blunt," Sebastian replied absently as he went to the kitchen and rummaged through his cupboards for his small stash of vodka. He found a rather large bottle of Russia's finest, and mixed a drink for William, diluting it with water to reduce the alcohol content and make it easier to drink. "Marijuana," he clarified as he brought the drink to William. "Drink up. This'll probably be messy and I'm sure you don't want to see it."

William just took it like it was water, downing it quickly. A hot, pleasant feeling ran down his throat and filled his chest. "God, I....I know what a joint is," he mumbled, staring tiredly at the floor. "Sebastian...I killed ...something...today. I've never killed something in my life. Not on purpose."

"Just checking," Sebastian said calmly. "And you didn't really kill them, by the way. They were already dead. They aren't people anymore. Try not to dwell on it because there's just no use in it." 

He sighed and got out his best first aid kit, and began wetting cotton balls with hydrogen peroxide. "First I'm gonna clean up these wounds. You've still got a few nails in your back...so I'm gonna have to pull those out, clean them up too, and bandage you up."

Sebastian was right-- William didn't really want to watch this. He turned his gaze away, biting his lip. "God, do I really?" he asked sullenly. "Get them out, quickly. I have had tetanus shots, but...oww--! Jesus fucking-- ahh..." 

He flinched as Sebastian applied the cotton ball to an open wound.

"Drink," Sebastian coaxed firmly, but not unkindly. "I know it hurts. But it hurts because it's doing its job, it's cleaning up. You probably already know that, though...and anyway, it's better than leaving them alone." Slowly and carefully, he worked his way up with every one of the wounds he saw, using the cotton balls, dabbing healing cream onto them, and applying gauze and bandages. When it came to William's back, though, he wasn't quite sure how to proceed. He didn't know the safest way to remove the nails.

William kept drinking obediently. "D'you....have a pair of pliers?" he wondered. "Or tweezers, even? That'd probably....y'know, probably do the trick...." He was leaning against the man now; even diluted, the vodka was very powerful. Much more so than a beer or two.

"Tweezers, yeah," Sebastian replied with a confirming nod -- they were right there in the first aid kit. He took them out and pinched them experimentally; they would be just fine. "This is gonna hurt like a bitch, just saying," he muttered as he steeled himself. He took hold of the first one, one of four, and gently began pulling it out.

William bit down hard, and muffled a cry of agony as the nail was eased from his flesh. These would take forever to heal, surely they'd gone right through the muscle. 

"I just need to...tell myself that this....is ....much better than what could have happened," he mumbled after the first was out.

Sebastian nodded again, giving William some time to recover from the first one being removed. "It is. It could have been a hell of a lot worse if you hadn't been there," he heard himself saying. "...You...you really saved my skin up there," he mumbled.

"Not...not really," William muttered, taking another swig of his drink. "I could have...just as easily crisped it up like bacon. Too risky. I was really...useless. It was just dumb luck that you didn't catch fire too." He shivered at the mere thought. If that had happened, William probably couldn’t have done a thing.

Sebastian looked up and made William look him in the eyes. "No. Look at me. I don't say shit just to hear the sound of my own voice. I mean this. I was literally backed up in a corner. You know how you could have been actually useless? By running away at the first sight of danger. You're more of a runner than a fighter; I know that much after spending a whole goddamned month with you. But you didn't. I told you to stay, and you stayed. I asked for help, and you helped. We were both scared shitless but we had enough of our wits about us to work together and get out alive. You know how to make molotovs. I don't know how to make molotovs. If you didn't, I would not be alive right now."

"Actually," said William, staring at him for a moment before letting his eyes slide away. "You'd still have a gun full of bullets, since you wouldn't have used them on rescuing me from those cultists." Still, there was a bit of a pleasant feeling getting the closest thing to praise from Sebastian that he'd ever gotten. 

"I surprised myself though, I suppose....I'd've expected me to run away."

Sebastian scoffed a little. "I would have used them on something else, eventually," he replied dismissively. "I did expect you to run away, actually. But I couldn't possibly be more happy to be wrong. Whether you like it or not, you saved my arse."

"I guess it's not a bad thing," William muttered. "Get back to those friggin' n-nails, please. Anyway, I'd be dead if you died, so...it's a means to an end, isn't it..."

"Yeah, 'cause I would've fuckin' killed you if you'd let me die," Sebastian replied with a bit of a morbid smile. "That's what I said." He leaned in and began to remove the second nail, after that.

William sighed as he took another drink. "Either way, it wouldn't be good if you were....if you were dead," he said quietly, closing his eyes tightly and trying to take deep breaths.

"Same with you, you know?" Sebastian replied as he carefully eased the second nail out and began to clean up the wound as best he could. "When I saw you laying there like that...I mean...Christ, I was scared. I don't get scared. But getting backed up, then watching you fall, and then seeing you like that...it was like...any hope I had for the future was just gone. Out like a light."

William almost blushed. It wasn't because Sebastian cared for him particularly, surely not. But it meant that he at least valued him to some considerable degree. 

"I see," he said simply, and leaned against him just a little more.

Sebastian used one arm to help support the drunken man while he removed the last two nails and cleaned up the wounds they left. "We were really lucky," he murmured as he bandaged William up. "Anyone else definitely would've died up there." He gave a faint laugh. "I guess we make a good team when we aren't bitching at each other."

William nodded, then looked down. "There weren't supposed to be zombies there," he mumbled. "I mean, Infected. ...how did they climb the...the tower....?" It was more than likely they were in the floor below, rather than scaling the whole tower, but William was drunk. "How....?"

Sebastian made sure the bandages were tight, and then washed his hands. "I don't know," he said quietly. "I never thought they could do anything more than walking around. This changes a lot. We have to spread the word."

William got up slowly, swaying, and took the last of his vodka. "I need to have a little nap first, Sebast....." He patted him and staggered out to the couch with a well pronounced limp. He didn't think he could make it out to his bedroom at all, so he just slept where he dropped.

Sebastian watched him drop with a sigh. William really was quite the lightweight, but it couldn't be helped. It was better to keep him calm and drunk off his arse than feeling the full effect of the pain from his wounds and having a panic attack. Sebastian felt sure, though, that William would feel all of the pain, physical and emotional, when he woke up hung over. It wouldn't be pretty.

Still, wanting to make him comfortable, he picked the unconscious scientist up and carried him to his bed, tucking him in under his blankets. Before he left, though, he paused and watched William sleep for a minute, examining his handsome face. Even though William didn't think so, Sebastian knew that he owed William his life. He'd make an effort to make him more relaxed and at ease.


	5. Hand of Kali

William rested for nearly a week after that, recovering not just from the physical trauma, but once again, from the psychological. At one point one of his wounds got infected, and he spent that night in an awful fever, muttering something about how the 'zombies were evolving' and maybe they were 'the next stage of evolution', something that was understandably quite disturbing for Sebastian to hear. 

He was back to normal a day later, just not moving around a lot. They couldn't fulfil their promise of being at Big Ben three days a week, or even sending out their radio call, and this bothered him considerably. When he was nearly fully healed, he was on his feet and making plans for a new location to go to.

Sebastian, for his part, became significantly more civil in his behavior towards William. He stopped calling him 'Four-Eyes', but because he viewed 'William' as an extremely formal name, most of the time he opted to just call him 'Will', using 'William' if he was angry for whatever reason. He was definitely concerned about the things the scientist would mumble feverishly in his sleep, not sure if they were just sick ramblings or if they meant something deeper. 

He kept an eye on William's wounds, often asking to see them before the scientist stepped in the shower. He kept them clean and changed the bandages at least once a day, and he became familiar with those parts of William's body. The other man was unbelievably handsome, probably more so than he was aware, and Sebastian was very interested. Sometimes his conversations with William held hints of flirtation that often went right over William's head.

Naturally these suggestive hints passed right by the oblivious scientist. It didn't help that his mind was more or less completely occupied by finding a new location. William had chosen Canary Wharf for his next destination. It was out in the open, and it was flat, which meant they couldn't get trapped by climbing zombies. 

He'd spent his free time over the last few days building and repairing various technological devices that he could hope to trade if anyone ever answered their call, and on a Friday, they packed up their things to head out to send their tri-weekly call.

Sebastian was helping pack up, and he picked up one particular device and turned it over in his hands with a puzzled look before he was to put it one one of their bags. "What's this supposed to be, again?" he asked with a frown.

"It's an air quality monitor," said William holding up a wand-looking device attached to a small screen. "Tests air toxicity, air humidity, specific gas levels, and so on...handy if you want to know what you're breathing and don't want to have to wear a mask all the time."

Sebastian furrowed his brow at it. "...And we're gonna try and trade it off? It sounds too useful to part with. Are you able to make another one?" he asked William as he looked up at him. "I mean, do you have the necessary pieces to make another?"

"We seem to be doing alright here," said William. "I mean, if I was going to get cancer, I would have gotten it by now. And you'd be long dead. Plus, I draw up blueprints of everything I work on. I don't think I have the pieces to make another, but if I did, it would be easy. Besides....if we want to get Fausalium, we're going to have to trade valuable things."

"I guess so..." Sebastian begrudgingly agreed. "We can probably go scrounging for parts when we're done with the broadcast anyway...and as long as we've got our masks, we don't have to worry about the air too much, anyway," he mumbled as he packed the monitor away.

"Chin up," said William. "You'll probably come back with a lot of bullets if someone shows up." He clapped him lightly on the shoulder, one of the first instances of friendly physical contact he'd shown to the man, and started to head out to the motorbike.

Sebastian managed a faint smile -- not a smirk like he normally wore, but an honest smile -- at the gesture, and he nodded. "Yeah, there is always that. You'd be surprised how many people are eager to get rid of their guns in exchange for other stuff like this," he replied. "Hopefully someone has got ammo."

"Well, this is worth a lot of guns," said William. "And what I've got in my bag is hopefully worth a small rod of fausalium." He stood by the hated motorbike and waited for Sebastian to come out while he pulled on his mask.

Sebastian came out packed and ready to go, pulling his mask over his head as he shut and locked the steel doors behind him. He polished a small spot on his beloved motorbike with his sleeve, and climbed on, feeling at home. "What exactly is fausalium, anyway?" he asked. "You said it's rare, but I don't know anything other than that. I mean, what does it do?"

William touched his glasses and adjusted them carefully, climbing on the bike. "Well, it's a substance discovered in a meteor that hit the Earth in 2014. It has a half-life of 3.5 billion years, and is the only naturally occurring fissile material in existence apart from Uranium-235. In even a small concentration it can therefore sustain its own chain reaction of nuclear fission, which generates an immense amount of energy. Certainly enough to power the earth for a few good years. Hopefully enough to power a portal for a few minutes," he replied, wrapping his arms around the convict.

For the first half, Sebastian didn't have a single damn clue what William was talking about, but at least for the second half he was able to understand that it was extremely powerful. "Well, shit," he muttered, shifting into a more comfortable position, having grown to like William's hands at his waist. "Please tell me it'll work more than once," he said a little impatiently. "Like it'll just need to recharge. What good will it do us if the portal only works once?"

William grumbled a little. "It should work at least a couple of times," he replied, then put his legs up on the back rungs. "Depends on how much I can get. It won't take a lot, so the more I can get, the better."

That much made sense. Sebastian nodded to show that he understood, and got them going. "Alright. Where are we going, this time? Canary Wharf, wasn't it?"

"Yes," said William. "You know where that is? On the Thames, of course. It's only 16 minutes, probably less, from our previous destination. Not terrible, really."

Sebastian sped off, always careful to surface at different places each time he did. "Yeah, I know where it is. Old business and financial district...I can get there, easy." 

And as he claimed, they were there in just over fifteen minutes. Like everywhere else, it was abandoned, and it reeked of the stagnant water in the Thames. It used to be overrun by seagulls, but they were all gone, now -- for various reasons, perhaps the First Wave, when people and animals alike died like flies, and survivors hunting them down and using them for food. Desperate times, desperate measures.

Now, it was eerily empty, as Sebastian and William emerged from the Canary Wharf Station. Like everywhere else, they amount of filth and garbage piled up everywhere was staggering. But it was open, and it was flat, and very difficult to get cornered in.

"You know what'd be great," said William, again on his rant of technology ideas, "Laser-powered turrets. That way we could defend our area without using bullets. Laser powered guns. This is the future, why don't we have those, yet?"

Sebastian shrugged as he pulled up in the most open, harmless-looking area he could find. "I don't know. Eighty years ago, people thought we'd have flying cars and stuff by now. I'm mostly just disappointed hoverboards never became a thing. Smartphones were pretty much the most futuristic thing we had and most people just used them for social networking. What a waste..."

"Who wants to really socialize that much, anyway? You could be putting your mind to much better things, like science." William walked over to a wooden railing and took out his radio again.

"Still, what I would give for even an ordinary mobile these days," Sebastian sighed, shutting off the engine and pulling out his key, pocketing it. "We took everything for granted. Maybe we all deserved this. Nature's way of saying, 'Hey, shape up, humans. You're being a wasteful, selfish bunch of fuckers and it's time you learned a lesson. Here, have a flesh-eating virus with a complimentary zombie apocalypse. No need to thank me.'"

"How humanity would finally be able to take a new step forward if we could just establish a communications network again. Hell, if we had a proper government, instead of....this."   
He thought briefly of the military breeding camps in other parts of the country and the world, then shook his head, and turned on the radio to give his announcement again, this time altering the destination and including an explanation about Big Ben.

Sebastian's thoughts turned to the camps, as well -- he'd only narrowly avoided being captured for it shortly after the Third Wave. He may have been a convicted criminal for murder and sexual assault, but he was a strong, fertile, able-bodied man, ideal for rebuilding the population. Sebastian didn't fancy having sex with anyone he didn't want to (ironically enough, given his charges), so he'd run off on his beloved bike and been in hiding ever since. He knew they patrolled from time to time, so that was why he never disappeared through one entrance to his hideout and came out of the same entrance next time he went out. They didn't have enough men or resources at all to capture him; it wasn't worth the effort for just one man, so they simply stopped stalking him, but still kept an eye out for him. 

As he listened to William talk, he was almost tempted to lean in to the microphone and add something along the lines of "But it was really bloody brilliant to watch; you lot should have seen it. Better than the movies." But he knew it was important, and William would more than likely have kicked him in the groin for it. It wasn't worth it, so he merely thought it and snickered to himself.

William, for one, was too valuable to be used only for breeding, and he was much happier to be shoved in a bunker. To him, those camps were like the Holocaust; it certainly wasn't a summer camp. The poor souls in there were barely getting enough to survive. 

Like last time, when the radio call was done, he sat himself down and took out something to munch on while they waited and hoped for somebody to come along, futile though it may have been.

This time, as Sebastian helped himself to some food, as well, he was much more on guard. He remained on his feet with his binoculars, looking in every direction for any sign of life, living or undead. "After this," he said casually through a mouthful of buttered bread and cheese, "how d'you fancy going to that shopping place I mentioned a while back and get you some new clothes? You still wanted something of your own, right?"

William glanced at him. He'd rather resigned himself to the few outfits he now had. Sebastian hadn't made him give back the clothes he'd stolen, apart from the jacket, but William would still have liked a bit more. 

"I think I'd like that," he replied, slowly growing more used to being outside, at least, while he was with Sebastian.

"They might not have much left, by now, but we're resourceful," Sebastian replied. Inwardly, he meant that at the rate people died, their belongings, including clothing, became fair trade. Anything went. With the virus still such a rampant threat, it was now common for people to cremate their loved ones and keep their remains closeby as daily reminders. Even the convict understood that much. "The people down at the shopping are good. We won't have any problems with them."

"Understood..." William turned himself around and dangled his legs over the edge while he ate. He truly hoped they were reaching somebody, and not somebody who would want to hurt them. Infected, they could probably deal with a couple of, but not armed humans.

"On days we're not doing this," Sebastian suggested, "we can go around to the people I know and ask around. I mean, there's got to be someone who -- "

He was interrupted by noise from the radio. It was staticky and muffled, but there was clearly the sound of human speech. His eyes widened as he looked over at it. "...Is that an answer? Already?"

William shot up and hurried over to the station, pressing his finger down on the microphone button. "Hello? Is there someone there?" He listened hopefully for a response. It wasn't terribly audible, but after twirling a dial a little, it became a little clearer.

The voice that came through belonged to adult man with a clear Bengali accent. "Yes. Is this William Spears, located in Canary Wharf?" came the reply.

"Yes," William replied, though he waited an anxious two seconds before replying so as not to seem too desperate. "To-- to whom am I speaking?"

The man on the other end cleared his throat politely. "Ah, please forgive me for my rudeness. My name is Agni Ghatak, and I represent a militant group called the Hand of Kali. We are interested in what you may have to trade, and we have the items you seek."

William hesitated before responding. "You're a militant group...with ...Fausalium?" he asked, trying to keep the dubiousness out of his tone. "Or perhaps you are referring to ammunition?"

"We have both," Agni replied. "Ammunition and your fausalium. We've had it in our hands as a possible energy source, but none of us know how to harness it. We've been saving it for the possibility of trade, and we hope that we won't have been carrying it for nothing. What do you have to trade, Mr. Spears?"

"Well," said William, giving Sebastian an anxious glance, "various technological items that you may find very handy. Geiger counters, air toxicity monitors, data storage devices, various types of heating appliances, a neuromuscular stimulator, uh, an electronic thermometer.....that's about it, so far."

Sebastian just gave William an encouraging nod. There was a pause from the other end, and then Agni replied in surprise, "And these are all in working order?" There was no suspicion in his tone, just hope.

"Yes, I tested them this morning," William replied, his heart beginning to race. "They do run on the old fashioned AAA lithium battery, though, and we don't have many of them, but I know for sure that the devices themselves are functioning."

There was another pause, and Sebastian found himself feeling uneasy. It just seemed too good to be true. A response within minutes, and they just happened to have ammunition and fausalium? 

He let his paranoia get the better of him, and he leaned forward to speak into the microphone, pressing down the button. "How do we know this isn't a trap?" he asked with a frown. "How do we know you're not from the breeding camps?"

When Agni replied, he sounded slightly taken aback. "And who is this?"

"Sebastian Michaelis. I'm William's...acquaintance." He wouldn't exactly call them 'friends' just yet. "Kinda his bodyguard. He's a big deal, you know? I have to make sure you're not just gonna screw us over."

To his surprise, Agni laughed, and it was a gentle, calm laugh. "I understand. People can become very cruel and show their worst sides during tough times such as this. I will bring our wares, and you will bring yours. We are located in Whitechapel...would you like us to meet you there in Canary Wharf, or possibly meet halfway?"

Sebastian turned to William for this, waiting for his answer.

Canary Wharf was their ground now, so William leaned forward and affirmed that they could meet on the wharf. "But don't bring too many people. Bring only who you need to carry your things... As you can understand, trust is a very big issue. We will be waiting here for another hour. Is that enough time for you to make it here?"

"That's perfectly fine. I will come to you, as well as two of my friends who will bring our share of the trade," Agni agreed. "And...I'm very interested in your story about the events that occurred at Big Ben," he added. "If you're willing, when I arrive I would like to hear more details."

And so William and Sebastian waited on the wharf, chatting sparingly about what the encounter would be like, and hoping these mercenaries would be satisfied with what William had to offer. 

After half an hour, they saw three figures in the distance, approaching on foot. This relieved some of William's nerves; he knew militant groups often had stolen tanks or other armored vehicles that they rode around in, mowing down anyone who might have items of use. 

"Se--Sebastian, look!"

Sebastian stood up straight and tall, grasping his crowbar just in case. With his weaker hand, he peered through his binoculars to examine them. There were indeed three of them, one man and one woman trailing behind a very tall man in a turban. As far as he could tell, the leader had white hair, but did not look old at all. All three of them wore slightly tattered robes, and carried bags on their backs and in their arms. They appeared alert, but calm. "They don't look too threatening. I don't see any obvious signs of guns," Sebastian murmured. "They've got a woman with them, too. Hnn, wish I could see what's under her robe~"

William curled his lip. 

"You're depraved." 

His eyes were drawn immediately to the handsome Bengali man striding towards them.   
It wasn't just how unnaturally good-looking he was ('Why would that matter anyway?' William would wonder) but the powerful aura he carried with him. Agni Ghatak, leader of 'The Hand of Kali' militia.

Sebastian didn't know it, but he very much agreed with William that Agni was very handsome indeed. As the group drew closer, there was a peculiar sort of feeling he got from the leader's expression -- a warm and calm smile that spoke of great kindness, and yet there was something else in his expression that lay in his eyes, something...sadder. He felt, with distinct certainty, that this group would not harm them. Against his better judgment, he relaxed his grip on the crowbar and waited for them to arrive.

When they were only a few meters away, Agni raised his hands in a peaceful gesture, his right wrapped in tattered bandages. "Namaste, friends," he greeted them with a kind smile. "I hope we find you faring well."

William nodded his head politely. "It's a pleasure," he replied, deciding he rather liked this man already. There was just something about him. "Of course, we should get down to business. The streets aren't safe, as you are no doubt aware. What do you think of my offer, Mr. Ghatak?"

Agni reached for William's hand and shook it politely, and then William's. "I think it sounds very generous," he replied to William. "If you don't mind, I would like to see the items you described over the radio. In turn, we will show you ours, and from there we can negotiate a fair trade, yes?"

Sebastian glanced to the other two, who had not yet said a word. The olive-skinned woman kept a wary eye on Sebastian and William, and the man, who was clearly European with his blond hair and hazel eyes, appeared to be keeping an eye on her while looking up to Agni and simply waiting quietly behind him. The other two stood close by each other as possible even with their heavy bags in the way; it was clear they were a couple.

"Uh, yes, certainly."

William stepped back and lowered his backpack to the ground. To avoid suspicion, he tipped out its contents and spread them out neatly. "Here are the items I listed, as promised," he announced, glancing from the ogling Sebastian over to Agni.

Agni knelt to the ground to examine each device, and he seemed to recognize each one for what it was without needing to be told. As he looked over each one, his companions set down their bags and responded in turn, carefully removing their contents and setting them out neatly before them, allowing the other two to look through them. Sebastian took care of that, as the majority of them were bullets, and he alone knew exactly what calibers he would need. 

It was like a miracle. Most of their bullets were exactly what Sebastian needed, and they were plentiful. He thought carefully and looked down at William's devices in doubt; would it be enough for trade? 

Agni seemed very impressed by what they had to offer. "They all have a certain flair to them...you built them yourself, you said?"

"Well, I cannot take the whole credit. I found them broken, mostly, and repaired them." He shifted through and looked at the small black box, no doubt containing his desired nuclear material. "That....is that the Fausalium?" he asked, a touch in awe. And so many bullets...so much safety.

The handsome Indian man nodded and carefully opened the box to allow William to see inside, and the precious element was nestled very gently amongst black velvet. "Yes. I cannot be certain exactly how much of it there is; we have no use for it, or means for measuring it. May I ask what your plans for it are?"

The man and woman with him were now looking through the objects William offered, and they seemed equally impressed by them, as well. Sebastian was beginning to feel more confident that a trade would be successful.

William shifted a little. He felt he could trust Agni, but he wasn't sure he could trust the two that were with him. "I'm fixing up a prototype of a device that can pass through spacetime and exit in a notably different place. A sort of transdimensional device..."

"A portal?" Agni asked in clear surprise. "There are prototypes left? I was lead to believe they had all been destroyed during the First Wave. That...is utterly remarkable. I would be more than honored to trade the Fausalium to you for such a device. However..." He frowned a little, and looked up at his companions. "Meenah, Harold...what do you think?"

The woman trailed her fingers through her long, thick, black hair as she thought. "I think the devices are worth the bullets he needs," she replied, gesturing to Sebastian, "but...not the Fausalium."

The man agreed as he gently set down the air toxicity monitor. "We'd need a lot more than this for the Fausalium," he replied in a clear northern English accent. "Surely you understand how much it's worth."

Agni nodded slowly as he listened to their input. "I certainly do. It is a shame. I would like to give it to you..." he was quiet for a moment, appearing deep in thought. "Could this possibly not be all you have to offer? Perhaps you have other things at your shelter that you could bring in the future? Not the portal, of course, as that would be rather useless without the fausalium you need."

William bit his lip, disappointment crushing his hopeful expression. "Th-this is all I have to offer so far," he said quietly, so that the tremor in his voice wasn't as obvious. They'd been so close! William could have wept.

Sebastian had to think very fast. "I have a lot of storage rooms," he muttered to William. "I pick things up and bring them back if I think they'll ever be useful, even if I don't know what they are. Maybe we can find something that they need. Clean it up, and get it working again, that's worth as much as the fausalium, or even more."

"Very well," William replied tightly, "go ahead and make your t-trade." He promptly gathered his radio and stalked a fair distance away, to where the bike was parked. Those two....they'd cost him his transspacial portal. He would not forgive them, stopping scientific progress in the name of greed.

They didnt even know how to use the fucking thing!

Sebastian and the man named Harold (what a stupid name, he thought) took what they needed and packed them away into their own bags. The convict was still rather sorry to see William's things go, as he thought they were far too useful to part with, but he felt safer with the bullets. He'd examined them carefully; they were real, and he knew very well how to spot fakes. They would not have a situation like at Big Ben for a very long time.

Agni, meanwhile, quietly excused himself after packing the Fausalium away, and joined William's side, gently resting his hand on William's shoulder in a well-meaning gesture. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I understand how important this project must be to you."

"I don't need your apologies," William replied coldly. "They won't help the human race." He caught himself, and slowly glanced up. "...I hope we can continue to trade in the future nonetheless."

Agni was a little taken aback by William's coldness, but he understood, and nodded, giving him a warm smile. "I hope for that, as well. I will listen for you again. And perhaps there can come a time when we may meet as friends."

"I imagine I won't quite live that long," William replied very bitterly. He did not take rejection well at all. He turned his gaze away from the Indian.   
"Sebastian, are we ready to leave?"

Agni bowed politely and stepped back, looking up at Sebastian and his companions.

Sebastian had just put the last of the cases of bullets in their bags and hefted them up. "Whenever you are," he called back, approaching the bike. 

Agni began his confident stride back to them, but he turned his head to glance back at William. "I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors," he said kindly. "May we meet again in good health."

William nodded silently and sat down on the bike, waiting for Sebastian. God, William was angry. He felt cheated. When Sebastian sat down he gripped him tightly in frustration. "Let's go home."

Even Sebastian could see how pissed off and upset William was. He frowned over his shoulder at the scientist; he knew he was upset over the fausalium, so he didn't even need to ask. However, he did ask quietly, "You don't want to look for something new to wear first? Maybe keep your mind off things for a while, help you cool down."

William shook his head. "I...I don't...I want to go home," he whispered. "Please, let us just go back there."And he'd sure as hell search every last dank corner for something useful in the storage rooms when he got back.

Sebastian nodded, frowning a little and facing ahead again. He gave Agni and his companions a parting wave before revving up and speeding away, zipping out of sight. They were silent on the ride home, and thunder rumbled overhead again. It looked like it was going to be another rainy day.

One of William's hands wrapped tightly around Sebastian's chest, the other his lower stomach. He could feel Sebastian's hipbones against his arms, and his groin was pressed up against the man's backside. Maybe it was the high-running emotions, (surely it was) but William liked it. He pulled tight against him, occasionally shifting his hips silently.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at this new position of William's as he drove. It was most certainly welcome, though he doubted that William intended it. It was honestly arousing, and Sebastian made no effort to hide it, smirking a little to himself. He knew William would just become even more pissed off when he realized what was happening, (that was, if he noticed at all, poor innocent thing) but he wanted badly to see the look on his face when he did.

When the rain started, that only fueled the feeling. Like the falling drops obscured what William was doing. He shifted up against him again, his hands slid back to rest on Sebastian's hips. It was like his inhibitions had been loosened, and it was a long ride home.

The raven honestly had to hold back a soft moan once or twice, managing to keep quiet, but only just. Feeling William rub up against him like this was very, very tempting. Sebastian had almost no inhibitions to begin with, but if this kept up he was going to end up ravishing the scientist with his hands and lips the second they got back. He could feel his heart racing; when was the last time he'd been so turned on? Certainly not from any cheap whore he'd slept with. He knew he'd been eyeing William's handsome face and hot body since he arrived, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it even though there was still clear dislike for him here and there.

Very, very tempting.

Naturally William's body responded to the gentle friction of Sebastian's leather-clad backside and his own groin. And it had been a lifetime, personally, since any sort of sexual endeavors that didn't involve his own hand. 

He pulled his mask off, clipping it to the back of the bike, and letting the rain wash over his angry, flustered face. Then he brought his lips to the back of Sebastian's neck, not kissing him, just resting there while his hands deliberated on if they should listen to rationality or to what his body wanted.

For just a split second, Sebastian shut his eyes and gasped softly, feeling William's warm lips against the back of his neck. He only opened his eyes again because if he didn't, obviously, he would crash the bike, but feeling William's lips there was so goddamned hot he didn't even know how to react. He sped up, eager to get home, because if this lasted very much longer, he was going to have to pull over and take him.

In the meantime, he simply feigned ignorance to the situation, even though his heart was racing so quickly in his chest. God damn it he wanted to see what those lips felt like against his own...

William sighed softly, raising his nose and lips to the man's ear and letting the air blow.   
Sebastian could feign ignorance all he wanted, but what was in his pants needed no explanation. William's hands were shyly dipping downwards, his fingertips ever so slightly brushing the bulge. But he couldn't quite dare make a move any bolder than that.

Sebastian bit his lip for a moment, trying to keep his breathing steady, but the second he felt that tiny, soft brush against his growing bulge, the motorcycle screeched to a halt, right there in the pouring rain. Sebastian tore his mask off and turned around, grasping William's shoulders, pulling him roughly forward, and smashing their lips together in a hungry, almost desperate kiss.

William was far too taken aback to respond in any sort of manner for a few moments, and then he grabbed him and kissed him back fiercely. It lasted nearly ten seconds and was certainly the steamiest kiss William had ever received. 

But reality, as it always did, came crashing back heavily and he pulled away with a gasp.   
"Aaah--!"

Sebastian was gasping softly for air, looking right into William's eyes. He chuckled breathlessly and licked his lips a little, getting the lingering taste of William from them. "You're better than I thought," he hummed pleasantly, leaning closer, eager for more. "Not bad at all."

William lowered his eyes, quite red in the face. "We should get going...it's not safe out here in the open," he mumbled, though his body currently felt electrified and he felt almost magnetically drawn back to those lips. It was a near-physical struggle.

"Fuck....n-no, we need to get back," he whispered, staring at the ground, though some part of him hoped....

Sebastian just kissed him again, one hand creeping to the back of William's neck and holding him closer. He nibbled and sucked gently at William's lower lip and shut his eyes, his warm breath visible in the cold air. "And...let...the mood...die?" he murmured, his other hand dropping down to William's waist.

William didn't want to have to make a choice, because if he was forced to choose, he'd force himself to get back on the bike. Having that choice taken from him, however, would make his conscience easier to ignore.  
"Mm...I know.."

Sebastian pulled William closer with a rough tug and pushed their hips together, sighing pleasurably at the friction the movement brought. It felt so damn good; Sebastian couldn't remember the last time he'd been pleasured by anything other than his own hand. He plunged his hand down William's trousers and copped a rather forceful feel, getting an idea of how big his scientist companion was. He was bigger than expected, and Sebastian was pleased, slowly pushing William to a nearby fence.

William gasped out, closing his eyes tightly. "O-o-oh I'm not---" He leaned back against the fence, instinctively pushing his hips into Sebastian's hand. 

"I...I-I'm not...a homosexual," he whispered.

Sebastian smirked and began kissing his way roughly down William's neck, nipping and scraping his teeth against the skin. "Could've fooled me," he replied nonchalantly between kisses, squeezing William's crotch and slipping his other hand around to squeeze his rear, as well -- an act he'd been itching to do for weeks. "Hnn..."

"I've never-- with a man," William uttered, a deep red, and a small moan escaped at Sebastian's little nips and squeezes. His damp hair in his eyes, William went straight back to Sebastian's kisses nonetheless, hungry for much more. He wasn't even sure exactly what it was that he wanted but he knew he wanted it badly.

A light scoff left Sebastian's lungs and he unbuttoned William's shirt, feeling up his chest. "I would've thought you've never with a woman, either," he replied against his throat. "I'll show you how good it can be..."

William had never gotten so hard so quickly, before. The women he'd been approached by were very nice people, and he thought maybe it was his own fault that sex just wasn't all that exciting to him. But the way he felt with Sebastian made him start to wonder. He wanted to know how good it could be. His damp shirt was being peeled off slowly, and a soft moan escaped as Sebastian's surprisingly delicate hands slid over his pale torso and his quickly beating heart.

Sebastian began to get a little rougher as he pushed William's shirt off his shoulders and unbuttoned his trousers. His lips met the scientist's again, kissing roughly and passionately while the hand down his trousers began working William's underwear down, as well, cupping his warm, stiff member.

William gasped rather louder than he wanted to. Sebastian was undressing him, right here in the middle of the street, in the pouring rain. Oh, god. That lust got the better of him, and unzipped Sebastian's jacket in one movement while they continued to kiss violently. 

"...T-take them off," he gasped, without even meaning to.

It was almost, almost strange to Sebastian, doing this to William even though the scientist had never made any indication of attraction towards him -- in fact, any flirtation Sebastian did always went right over the other man's head. He far more than happily obliged, pushing William's underwear down to his knees. The other man was standing, half-naked, now, with his shirt barely hanging onto him and his trousers and underwear pooled around his ankles. Sebastian's breathing quickened in anticipation as he quickly stroked William's member, and their breath fogged up William's glasses.

William's own hands worked rather clumsily to get Sebastian's clothes off, while he wiggled his feet out of his boots and stepped out of his lower garments. His erection twitched rather excitedly the moment he exposed the handsome, muscular chest of the convict, and again when he unzipped his fly. 

Suddenly he made a sound which surprised even him-- one of laughter, when he suddenly realized, "Oh, god...if something shows up...I'd be running away s-stark naked..."

Sebastian chuckled right back, quickening the process by wrestling open his trousers and lowering his pants. His throbbing erection stood proud and high, a testament to exactly how aroused the convict was. "Wouldn't be the first time I've done that," he purred into William's ear, tugging at his earlobe with his teeth. His other hand dropped back down and took another handful of William's backside before his fingers traced down the center and sought out his entrance, rubbing eagerly against it.

William was more than distracted by Sebastian's proud erection when he felt fingers touching down there, and he arched up against him with a rather shameful gasp, his arms grabbing Sebastian tightly. "Nnn--! Seb-- I--" 

He'd certainly never been touched there before.

Sebastian was damn eager for this and wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. He pushed the tip of his finger in, moving it around at his leisure and beginning to stretch him. He pushed their hips together and ground their erections together, moaning softly and pleasantly at the delicious friction. "You what?" he whispered darkly into William's ear.

William buried his head in Sebastian's shoulder, making a confused sound. "I d-don't know if I--- can do th-that--" he managed to gasp out in a voice that had risen a few notes, a heavy flush coming over his face. He was also heavily aware of the sensation of his cock being pressed against another, warm and strong and electrifying. 

His knees became weak.

Sebastian grasped both of their members together and began stroking them in unison, all while pushing his hips back and forth. "Hnn...I told you...I'd show you how good it feels, didn't I?" he asked softly, pushing his finger into William's warmth as far as it would go. "I'm...going to show you...everything."

William had to grip Sebastian tightly to prevent from literally sinking to the ground, beginning to pant the further the digit intruded within him. "Oh, fuck...!" He mouthed at Sebastian's shoulder, biting. "It's ...painful," he confessed, something he'd never experienced in sexual intimacy.

The convict held William tightly against himself to prevent him from slipping down even further, and he continued to push his finger in and out, wriggling it about William's tight walls. "It is, at first," he replied, rather enjoying the bite to his shoulder. "Don't you believe me? William..." he dropped his voice and slowly whispered William's name into his ear, drawing it out and pronouncing it very precisely.

William took a step forward so he didn't just melt away right then and there, though his legs were shaking rather noticeably now and it was a little embarrassing. "I'm a s...scientist," he whispered back, nipping at Sebastian's wet skin. "....I require proof."

"Oh, I'll give you proof..." Sebastian slipped his index finger out from William's entrance, and quickly replaced it with his middle, pushing it roughly inside and searching out his sweet spot, all while stroking their cocks together even faster. There it was. Sebastian found it and smashed up against it with his finger, grinning in satisfaction.

"U-uagh!" 

William cried out suddenly, in a tone he'd certainly never expected from himself. He was rocking his hips against Sebastian's hand, not wanting the pleasure of his cock being stroked to stop. Gazing up with innocent, surprised eyes, he managed to whisper, "W-what did you d-do to me?"

Sebastian laughed at the look on William's face, and then kissed him ferociously again, stroking them ever faster. "What, don't you know your own prostate?" he teased, pushing up and rubbing it again.

"F..fuck you. I know what it is. I just don't have a habit of--" There was that sound again, and he bit down on Sebastian's shoulder to try and stifle it. Rather than face the inevitable humiliation of falling over, he pulled Sebastian down with him, so the man lay over him on the wet, warm concrete. William arched his back, moaning steadily and rocking against him. He could feel something building up inside him, and he knew the sensation-- but never this good. His body was tingling all over, and he felt like he was floating. 

"Aaah, keep going, keep going, don't..don't stop.."

Sebastian could feel his own orgasm building up, and it was so damn hard to pace himself and not just go nuts and come as fast as he could. He wanted to hear William moan, and say his name, and squirm with the need to come. "Not planning on it," he groaned out softly, rocking right back against him. He slipped his other finger back into William's entrance, scissoring his digits and thrusting them in and out, all while attacking William's mouth and member.

William's eyes shut tight when he reached the climax that had built up faster than he'd ever felt it. His nails dragged over Sebastian's back as he arched up beautifully and came into the man's hand, hot seed erupting from his tip and getting lost in the rain. God...Sebastian only had to use his fingers, and it was still a better orgasm than he'd ever had whilst having sex.

Sebastian grinned in satisfaction again, paying close attention to William's expression when he came. Hearing his moan, seeing the pleasure on his face, and feeling his hot seed enter his hand, was enough to push Sebastian over the edge. He came shortly after, his hips cringing with the force of it, and he moaned openly as his pleasure climaxed and then slowly, pleasantly fell as the rain washed away the evidence of their deed. He stayed there, kneeling over William and panting hard, his hot breath appearing and disappearing in the cold air.

William couldn't believe that had just happened, and with Sebastian of all people. It was like something out of a dream. Eventually he pushed the man off of him and gathered up his clothes before something really did come along. His backside felt really uncomfortable right now, he noted, and he didn't like it at all.

Sebastian gathered up his wet clothes, as well, and pulled them on even though they were cold and soaking. He zipped his jacket back up, and waited calmly and patiently for William, feeling more satisfied than he'd been in months. "You feel really incredible, you know," he murmured pleasantly, leaning against his bike.

William shivered, cold and wet as he got on the bike and pulled his mask on. It was nice to conceal his face for a bit. He said nothing, just waiting for Sebastian to join up with him. Inwardly he felt a little sick.

Sebastian pulled his mask back on too, and straddled his motorcycle seat and started the engine back up. He was shivering a little, too, and made sure William was hanging on before he started back on their way. It resulted in quite the awkward silence as they made their way back home; Sebastian wanted to talk and go on about how really, actually fantastic William's body was, but it was clear that William was having second thoughts about what they'd done.

William slid off the bike when they got back and sort of limped on inside without a word to Sebastian. He entered the loungeroom and began to take his shoes off once he'd removed the gas mask covering his face.

Sebastian went in after him, dripping wet, and the first thing he went for were towels. He handed draped one over his head and shoulders before holding one out to William. "Aren't you going to say something?" he asked with a frown.

William slowly turned to him, biting his lip a bit, and still shivering. He stared at him for a long moment before mumbling, "...Would you like to join me in the shower?"

The response was the last thing Sebastian expected, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked William in the eyes for a moment in his stunned silence, and then nodded with a shrug of his shoulder. "Sure thing. Some hot water'll feel good. Better than sitting here in your wet clothes, yeah?"

William just nodded as he headed to the shower. He certainly knew the sensation, and it was never a pleasant one. He stripped out of his clothes once more, and turned on the hot water with his back turned. In this cold, surely he wouldn't look too impressive downstairs.

Sebastian hung up their clothes to dry before joining William in the shower. The heat was very welcome, and it wasn't long before his shivering stopped. He stood behind William and pulled him close, a hand trailing down the scientist's stomach, taking the time to feel the muscles he'd been in too much of a hurry to examine out on the street. His other hand gently slipped down William's back, hip, and thighs where his wounds from before were slowly beginning to close up. "You're healing well," he murmured silkily into William's ear.

William swallowed. He wasn't used to them being so intimate at all. "I'm just....glad they're not infected anymore," he murmured, letting the hot water run over him. He stepped in closer to Sebastian's warm body, liking the way his hands felt as they slid over him. "Anyway....this is just a...just a shower."

Sebastian wasn't used to them being intimate, either, but he was no stranger at all to intimacy, and he felt right at home, touching William's handsome body so freely like this. "Not just a shower," he replied contentedly, the hand at William's stomach freely roaming lower. "You've never suggested such a thing before. Never hinted to me..." He bent lower and pressed his lips to the back of William's neck. "Why now, I wonder? I'm not complaining, but our little adventure on the street was...very...surprising..."

William blushed a bit. "I don't...know. I was just...angry... you were there, a-and it was vibrating....Oh, it's impossible to say just what I mean. I was not thinking straight...if you'll pardon the pun." He shivered instantly at the lips on his neck, but he was certainly not ready to such a thing with Sebastian again so soon.

Shamelessly, Sebastian dragged his tongue around the sensitive area, feeling very comfortable indeed with this. He loved the way William shivered, how unsure and innocent, untouched he was. The convict felt not just in control, but powerful. He wanted more. "It does feel good, though, doesn't it," he said softly, his fingers brushing over William's member again, cupping his testicles into his palm. "The way my bike vibrates and picks up every...little...bump...in the road." With each carefully pronounced syllable, he gave William a squeeze.

"Stop," William demanded instantly, brushing his hands away. "I said...I said it's just a shower!" He was bright red, and wiggled away from the raven. "I'm just very confused right now."

Naturally, Sebastian ignored William's demand. "I don't want to stop," he murmured, going right back to touching William. He placed his hand gently over William's throat, the other splayed out over William's stomach. "You've gotten my attention now."

William grabbed him and pushed him against the shower wall, breathing uneasily. "...I'm starting to think it really was a bad idea," he told him sharply. "Please...desist when I ask you to."

"Or what?" Sebastian asked lazily, looking into William's eyes with a perfectly neutral expression. "What are you worried about a gay scare for? It's normal. Don't tell me you're a bloody homophobe."

"I'm not!" William insisted. "B-but that doesn't mean I want a man's hands all over me...and, like I said, I'm confused...I need to think. Sure, it's just another fuckbuddy, for you, but for me it's an entirely new experience."

Sebastian sighed in irritation, frowning a little bit. Of course the sheltered little scientist would end up having a crisis over it, just like everything else. "Fine," he muttered. "But you can't stop me from watching you like a hawk, now that I know how delicious your body is."

William looked away. "Even if I did decide I was...inclined that way...." He rested a hand on Sebastian's hip, loosening the grip he had on his shoulder. "I don't know. It's probably not a smart choice...to do things with you...you know?" He looked up at him innocently.

"Tch..." The convict's lip curled up in a sneer. "And why's that, pray tell? Is there something wrong with getting a little pleasure in such a shitty situation? Or are you literally afraid you might be gay, or, God forbid, even bi?"

William went red. "I'm not afraid of that," he said lowly after a minute. "I am afraid of you." 

With that, he left the shower, grabbing a towel and heading off to his private room.

Sebastian watched him leave, feeling rather miffed, and sullenly washed himself before shutting the water off and drying himself. While it was satisfying to know he had that sort of control over William, he'd had but a taste of what William could be like in bed, and he very much wanted more. And he knew he'd get it sooner or later.

William had already figured out that it was more than likely he was gay, not just even bi. Comparing his experience with women in the past, and this one encounter of intimacy that hadn't even lead to sex....As well as the slight attraction he'd felt towards male coworkers and their bodies that he'd shut right down...Yes, he was probably gay. 

William dressed in his room, the door closed (though sadly it didn't have a lock; he'd been intending to make one). He had his own bit of control, too, Sebastian was clearly obsessed with his marred body. But it wasn't smart to get too close, because god forbid he ever developed feelings for him. 

Mr. Sociopath would cast them into the dirt and piss on them, because all he'd care about was the sex. That was all. 

The brunet dried his hair one last time, munching on a little cheese from his backpack, when a mouse scampered over to him. He lured it in with his food, and he even got to pet it. It was a welcome distraction from the failure of today's trade, and the new mess he'd created with Sebastian.

Sebastian got into clean clothes, checked on the status of the clothes he'd hung up, and began studying his largest map of London in order to update it. He kept himself busy with it for a while, though his thoughts often strayed back to William, flashes of that incredible body and how good he felt. He realized it would become a problem if he let himself be distracted by him so easily, but he couldn't easily ignore his hunger. 

When he had nothing left on the map to circle or cross out, he got up and knocked on William's door, pretending like nothing had happened. "Hey. Let's go through my storage and see if there's anything worth salvaging for the fausalium."

"I'll do it tomorrow," William replied. "I'm tired." They had all weekend to search for something, since they weren't due back at Canary Wharf until Monday. Plus, he was rather fond of his new mouse friend and didn't want him to run away. Maybe he could keep him as a pet.

If Sebastian knew there was a mouse in his bunker, he would have destroyed it on sight. He didn't want pests contaminating his food storage. Luckily for William, Sebastian was unaware, so he sighed irritably and turned away. "We don't have forever," he muttered as he stalked back off. He had nothing else to do at the moment, and he wasn't hungry, so he stalked back to his bed. He'd created a makeshift curtain for privacy so that he could get off whenever he wanted and not give a damn about what William thought about it, but his mood had been killed. He hated having nothing else to do, and he felt restless, so when he laid down, he just stared up at the ceiling and did not sleep.

William, sadly, had nothing to store his mouse friend in, so he let him go. Once the mouse had eaten his food, it scampered away, and he was left alone for the night, too. "...What have I done," he sighed, closing his eyes and turning his lamp off. He should never have touched him. Never. As if things weren't complicated enough.


	6. Sebastian and William's Storage Cleaning

Sebastian and William’s Storage Cleaning

Sebastian didn't rest easy that night. He was sexually frustrated despite getting such a great orgasm from William, and he was determined to get another. He ended up staring at the ceiling for a couple of hours, and finally dozed off sometime after midnight. When he woke, he wasn't very well-rested, and as a result, his temper was dangerously close to the surface and at risk of boiling over, but he went about his morning routine anyway. He inspected every nook and cranny of the lab to make sure it was still secure and safe, did his morning stretches, and made breakfast -- plain oatmeal. He had plenty of other ingredients, but he was very selective about when he used them. William used them far too often, so Sebastian was tempted to hide everything but the grains and oats.

William felt a bit better the next morning. When he completed his own morning rituals (which now included a bit of stretching in the privacy of his own room) he went out to get breakfast. He noticed several things he liked to use in his cereal were gone, but said nothing and made it nonetheless, followed by a coffee.

Sebastian didn't say anything to him, and even pretended to not notice he was there. He had finished breakfast long before William woke up, and was now lacing up his boots in preparation to go out. He wasn't going to postpone foraging for anything useful in his storage any longer.

William stubbornly didn't say anything to Sebastian either. He didn't have to. Sebastian would eventually have to speak first if he wanted William to do a single thing.   
William sat on the couch, wrapped in blankets as he ate his very bland breakfast, and just watched him.

Sebastian knew he was being watched. He was still miffed about the night before, so he decided he'd get back at William in subtle ways, like stretching a little longer than he normally would, casually show off his neck, his throat, his sharp hip bones. Now that he knew he could arouse William, he would seduce him in every way possible to get him in bed.   
"We're checking the storage rooms today," he said calmly. "I mentioned yesterday that I tend to pick things up if I think they might be useful later. Most of the stuff I bring back, I have no idea what it is, but if it looks like it's working, I'll keep it. You job is to help me figure out what everything is and if it's worth keeping."

"You pick up random shiny things," William commented, placing a mouthful of the oatmeal into his mouth. "S'cute." Eventually, though, he got off his backside, got dressed, and decided to head out with the man to check the storage rooms. 

"Piss off," Sebastian muttered under his breath. "I'm throwing out whatever turns out to be useless." 

"We can avoid the brown recluse breeding grounds, right?" William asked hopefully.

When William was dressed, Sebastian was waiting impatiently for him. "No. We have to look everywhere. If you want any hope of getting that fausalium, Miss Muffet, you're gonna have to put your big girl panties on and deal with a couple of spiders."

"My hope for getting Fausalium died yesterday when we traded a highly valuable collection of electronic devices for a few cases of ammunition," William said flatly. "You can deal with the spiders. I'm not going near them. Brown recluses are far too venomous."

Sebastian turned and glared at him as they stepped out of the lab. He shut and locked the doors behind them and turned on a flashlight he pulled from the shoulder bag he was wearing. "The ammo's value went up the second the First Wave started. It's harder and harder to find, now. It was a fair trade, so quit your griping. I've got bug killer spray in the closest room to us, so grab some of those if you're too worried."

And William certainly did grab the bug spray, not that he intended on going near any brown recluses in any case. "Choose the room you think has the most possibly valuable things in it," William grumbled as he walked along beside him.

"I don't know; any of them could have a lot of value inside," Sebastian grumbled right back. "We're going to have to check each one, one at a time. This is our chore today. Whatever's not worth anything, I'm throwing out to make room for something /actually/ useful."

"Oh, fine," William replied snappily. "Just pick a bloody room then." His mood was already on the decline, thanks to Sebastian.

Sebastian chose the very first room they happened upon. He pulled a ring of keys from his bag, flipped through them, and pushed one into the lock. There was a heavy clack that echoed through the tunnel, and he pulled the door open. It was a little dusty inside, and the air smelled a little stale, but otherwise it wasn't too untidy. Sebastian knew this one was an exception, though; the other ones he knew for a fact would be filthy. It was a twenty square foot room, with shelves lining each wall, packed with things Sebastian had either found or stolen. 

He gestured unenthusiastically inside. "Dig in."

William obliged, trudging into the room. He had anticipated that Sebastian would heartlessly throw him to the spiders, so he wore closed-in clothing, with boots and gloves, and he kept his mask on as he entered the room so spiders or any other creepy crawlies couldn't drop down his neck. 

"What a pigsty," William grumbled as he headed in, and opened up a black garbage bag for him to put useful items in.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and grit his teeth. "I don't know what you were expecting," he mumbled as he stood close by and expectantly. "It's a storage room."

"A little organization," William said flatly. "Eugh..!" He stepped back when a cockroach ran out from under something he'd nudged with his shoe. 

And so, the long, long search began.

It took half the day to get through most of the storage rooms. Sebastian relented and at least swept bugs and spiders out whenever they finished with a room, and he created a pile out of whatever was useless to them, to be thrown out later. Most of it was useless, but Sebastian had managed to find some more valuable electronic equipment during his scavenging. 

"What can you make out of these things?" he asked him as he swept out the last of the dust and cobwebs from the latest storage room. Their had tempers had gone down, their energy focused instead on searching and cleaning. So far, there were no brown recluse colonies, though they did find the occasional black widow that Sebastian shrugged and killed with an expert aim from the blunt tip of his broom.

William wasn't as optimistic as Sebastian. "I'm not an electrician," he mumbled. "I'm a chemist. I can't do much but fix what they already are, and make primitive technology like radios. Nobody would trade their dirty knickers for this."

He felt a pang of yesterday's misery, but it certainly wasn't accompanied by lust for Sebastian. They had found useful items, but usually things they could use for themselves. Nothing highly valuable. There were a small collection of gemstones, but in this day and age they weren't worth a thing. Nobody could eat them, what was someone going to do with a collection of shiny rocks? 

"This is all?"

Sebastian kept the gemstones anyway, not wanting to throw them out in case society got back up on its feet again. Just in case. "There's three more rooms," he told William. "We're almost done." He sighed and crossed his arms once they shut and locked the door back up. "Unfortunately, I'm not gonna find any chemistry items anywhere but in the laboratory. Unless someone threw out a kid's beginner chemistry set, we're probably out of luck. But...still, you were able to make plenty with what I had just lying around. Trust me, we've got it a lot better than a lot of people. Most don't have running water or food storage. They'd give a lot for just a radio."

William trudged out of the room with his bags and on to the next one. "We do have it a bit better," he confessed. 

The next room they went in to was, to William's chagrin, absolutely filled with spiders.   
They'd agreed on a tactic: Bug spray, combined with a lighter, creating a flame. William stayed back from this, not just from the fire, but from the thousands of dying spiders dropping dead around them.

Sebastian donned his gas mask for this procedure, getting every corner of the room, sweeping the walls and ceiling, and sweeping the dead arachnids out the door and far away from it. He was careful to not torch any of the actual storage, and he ended up having to stomp on the few stubborn spiders who completely refused to die. "We'll be more aggressive next time we trade," he told William as he removed the spiders. "I mean, we weren't swindled yesterday, but we probably could have gotten a little more, maybe. Possibly. Better product and more aggressive bartering. And we can't forget we can offer services, too."

William followed him in when the ocean of crunchy spider corpses had been brushed to the side. There wasn't even much in this room. 

"Do people still pay to get laid?" he wondered. "You should charge people. I'm sure you're good." It slipped out without even thinking, and William hurriedly knelt to examine some old, broken computer equipment.

"Oh, sure," Sebastian said with perfect confidence. "There's probably more prostitutes than not, these days. A hand job for a meal, a blowjob for a week's worth of water, if you're desperate. Sex for clothes and shelter. These days people don't even accept money. Just goods. Money doesn't do any good, so. The system changed a little." He smirked a little, though, when William suggested what he did. "And I do. I'm damn good at it, but I only sell myself if I'm running low on particular things."

"Yes, well. Don't be selling any of our things for sex, no matter how desperate you are. I mean that." He tossed aside a broken computer monitor, a useless keyboard (covered in baby spiders) and a mouse. It wasn't even recent technology. At least thirty years...

Sebastian gave him a dirty look. "You mean my things. And I'm not that desperate. There's usually some whore willing to give me a freebie. And if not, I've got good old Mister Hand to keep me company."

He watched William toss the old technology aside. "Damnit, none of this is worth anything? You couldn't even...I don't know, combine parts to make a robot or something?"

William gave him a deadpan look of condescension. "My goodness. I won't even dignify that with an answer." He went back to looking, shifting what looked to be an old lamp aside to get at a largish black box, wondering what it could be.

Sebastian shone his torch at the box. "Oh, this thing -- this thing was hell to bring in. I've opened it up and it's got a ton of circuits and stuff in it. I thought it was a CPU tower but there's no disk drive or anything. Thought it might be a server after that, but I don't know for sure."

"It's definitely a server. It's what they use to host Internet, right?" William asked. "Imagine if it actually worked, still. If someone had a working computer, and they could set it up....we might be able to get Internet communication back..."

"That'd be bloody amazing," Sebastian breathed in agreement. "Finally, something really useful. We have to mention this over the radio tomorrow."

"But it's probably broken," William protested for a moment. Then again, it really was the most valuable thing around. "Alright, we'll give it a try. Do you want to check the last few rooms or call it...?"

"There's got to be someone out there who can fix it, if it's broken," Sebastian replied confidently, smoothing his hair back. "Let's check the last few rooms. I might have another, though I don't know for sure."

The next room was just as spider filled and useless as the previous one, and in the very last room of all they got a horrible surprise. 

William entered the room first, seeing it wasn't nearly as spider infested. He was completely at ease until he felt something grasp his leg-- an Infected. 

William let out a horrified gasp and practically jumped into Sebastian's arms.   
"Uaaah!!"

Sebastian let out a startled, horrified cry of his own, but he acted quickly. Instinctively, he moved in front of William, putting an arm before him to keep him back, and his hand dove into his bag, withdrawing a gun he had just refilled with bullets. 

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

The shots echoed powerfully and resounded through the tunnels, the flashes from each fire blinding them temporarily. The smell of gunpowder filled the air. 

When their eyes adjusted back to the dark, there lay a dead Infected on the ground, with three bullet holes in a perfect row in its forehead. Sebastian waited about five seconds before he slowly lowered the gun, and removed his arm from in front of William.

He glanced around the room, and saw that there was a hole in the ceiling, with sunlight beaming down through it. It was large enough for an adult man to fall in, and that's exactly what this Infected used to be.

"Everything in this room is useless, now," he said quietly, the dismay audible in his tone. "Everything has to be burned. I don't know how long this has been here, but we have to burn everything and seal it up. After that, we have to check every single one of the other rooms and make sure there aren't any cracks or weak spots of any sort so that this doesn't happen again."

He glanced over his shoulder at William. "Are you all right?"

William was still staring at the dead one. It was so close to chomping on his ankle. "Fuck." He shook his head, inching out of Sebastian's hold, and trudging out of the room. "I'm going to take our things back..."

Sebastian nodded. "Do that. I'll take care of the monster. I'll be back soon." He was already spraying the room down with bug spray and anything else flammable he had with him.

William shuddered and gathered the bags.   
On the mile long trudge back to the lab, he had a long think about how he really did need to learn to help himself out. Sebastian wasn't always going to be around, and William was not a man who liked feeling helpless. 

Sebastian had a punching bag hanging up, didn't he?   
First thing William did upon returning was strip down to a singlet and tracksuit pants, and begin his practice. 

Who knows, maybe he could even impress Sebastian. One day.

Sebastian was gone for two hours. When he came back to the lab, he stank of burnt plastic and flesh, and there was smudges of ash on his face and clothes. He wasn't happy. He glanced up at William and sighed heavily. "Do you know how to make concrete?" he asked in exhaustion.

William stepped back from the punching bag, absolutely exhausted. He flopped down on the couch to rest his sore muscles. 

"Water, cement powder, sand, and gravel. I think that's it. Just water and cement powder will make simple cement though."

"Fuck..." Sebastian flopped down next to him and put his head in one hand. "I'm going to have to go and find those ingredients. All I've got on hand is water. I have to seal up the hole the Infected fell in. Fuck, how did this happen...my storerooms were supposed to be just as secure as the lab. If an Infected can get in one of them, how the fuck can I feel safe in here anymore?"

William shrugged. "It's better never to feel too safe anywhere. That's how they get you. Even if you've got the most secure place in the world....there's always a chance something will come." There was a sad note to his voice, and he leaned lightly against the raven, still breathing a bit quickly.

It took Sebastian a moment to realize what William had meant, and he sighed, his shoulders sagging, and nodded. "Yeah. Guess there is." He was quiet for a moment and then glanced over at William. "Why are you so sweaty?"

"Wanking," William replied flatly, sitting himself back up. "I just finished up before you came in."

Sebastian gave him quite the skeptical look. "What, does my punching bag turn you on that much?" he replied just as flatly, one eyebrow raised.

"If you knew I was using it, why did you even ask?" William returned, getting up off the couch and peeling off his damp shirt. "I was just exercising," he muttered, slowly raising the fabric up over his head.

"Wasn't expecting you to come up with a blatant lie like that, though," Sebastian replied in amusement, not bothering to be at all subtle in watching William remove the garment. "What all did you do?"

"It could be true. I don't get much time to myself these days," William commented with a faint smirk. "I just practiced some kickboxing, that's all." He took the waistband of his pants and considered lowering them in front of Sebastian, then thought better of it. 

"You can take the first shower."

Sebastian shook his head and stood up, disappointed he didn't get to see a striptease. "No...I have to go back out and find stuff to seal up the store room," he muttered. "I can't leave it open. Just came back to check on you."

"To check on me?" William asked, faintly amused. "How very thoughtful. But I'm just fine here. Anyway, I doubt you can seal the store room today. One Infected inside a locked room isn't a threat. Let it go."

Sebastian shook his head. "Can't. If one fell in, so can others. I have no idea how long it was there and I don't want any chance of them getting out and infesting the tunnel. I won't take any risks." He slowly made his way to the door. "Stay here.”

Sebastian would not be back until morning, though neither of them knew it yet. He planned to get to the nearest trading post to see if anyone had cement powder, by some miracle. If not, he could always map out the nearest factory, or even figure out how to make it himself.

The hours ticked by slowly for William. He knew it would take a while for Sebastian to locate the cement ingredients, and he made a decent allowance for that. Nonetheless, he couldn’t really help but feel concerned.

As Sebastian passed an inconspicuous pile of garbage on his bike, someone hunched down, flicking on a walky talky and whispering, "Someone's coming. He's got a real fancy bike. I think he's armed."

Sebastian thought he had seen movement, but there didn't appear to be anyone in sight. He frowned a bit and went on his way, continuing en route to the Piccadilly Circus survivors, where he was headed. 

"Yeah, he is," came back another low whisper over the walkie-talkies. "He's got a gun on his leg. He looks pretty serious...I think we should stop him. He might be a robber."

"Alright, he's coming up now," came another voice, female this time. "You know what to do. On three. One, two, three!" 

Suddenly, oil burst out onto the road from all sides, right in front of Sebastian's bike, like it had exploded out of something and peculiarly not caught a spark and lit up. Instantly, Sebastian's bike went wonky on the road, and a bar was dropped from the bridge above, catching him by the waist and pulling him off. 

"Got 'im!"

"Wh -- ?!" Sebastian immediately began flailing about, kicking his feet and swiping his arms, but whatever had gotten him had a good hold on him. "What the fuck -- " he looked around wildly to see who, or what, was responsible. 

Laughter rang out from some hidden place; his captors were mocking him. And they were children. "You brats! Show yourselves!"

They watched him attempt to get up, only to slip on the oil slick and fall again. 

A young woman showed herself first of all, striding over to him as a bunch of younger children slid over, quickly disarmed him, and glided away once more. 

The female wore spiked boots, which served to let her walk on the oil without slipping over.   
"This one's cute," she said, pulling out a gun much larger than what Sebastian was previously holding. The man was lit up with red dots, off of laser sighted weapons that the people surrounding him were holding. 

Presumably the leader of this ragtag group of child bandits, the honey-skinned female looked only about fifteen, and had quite a masculine build. Her breasts were presumably bound, and the singlet top she wore showed off admirable muscles. 

"Take his fancy bike. I like it." She cocked the gun, running a hand through her very short, nearly-black hair, her stormy-grey eyes lit up with interest.

"Wha -- no -- you little shits, I need that!" Sebastian snapped, struggling to get up and only succeeding in falling back over, getting slick with oil. He glared up at their leader, a mere child, a woman. "You have no goddamn idea what you're doing!"

"We kinda do," she replied. "I mean, clearly this was orchestrated. This means planned, and it succeeded, so no, we actually do know what we're doing." She knelt in front of him, eyeing him. "Very cute, though. What do you think, should we keep him for a while?"

One of the other children, not much older than the leader, made his way down next to her. He was tall and skinny, with fair skin, blond hair and large, sea-green eyes. A couple of barrettes kept his fringe out of his eyes. "Yeah, I think so," he agreed after scrutinizing their prisoner. "He looks strong. We can make him do heavy lifting for when I'm not around."

Sebastian spat his now oily hair out from his mouth. "Fuck -- no, I need to get cement to seal up a room a fucking Infected got into -- "

"You'll have plenty of time to do talking when we get back," the girl said, patting his head with a gloved hand. She then took a clump of it and used it to drag him off of the oil slick. He was then bound and blindfolded, and given a small prod with a taser to make sure he went where he was directed. 

It was then they took him back to their hideout.

Sebastian hated the taser, and he'd snap at whoever was prodding him with it. "I'm not a goddamn piece of cattle! You don't need to herd me along with that thing, you little pieces of shit," he snarled, fighting every bit of the way. But his senses were distorted with his vision lost and arms bound, so he was forced to go along wherever they forced him.

"We've lost people before from getting careless," the girl replied, giving his backside a little pat as he was walked along. It didn't take too long to get to their place: a collapsed old church, with a secret basement beneath it.

Sebastian was seeing red by the time they arrived at their hiding place. He had every intention of destroying every single one of these children, their youth be damned. He would burn this place, too, to make sure they could never return to it.

After a while, he was tied down to a chair in the middle of a room, their little interrogation room. Someone removed Sebastian's blindfold, and he could see many young children peering curiously into the room. 

"What's your name, handsome~?"

Sebastian spat on the ground to further emphasize his displeasure. He said nothing, not about to give them a single piece of information about himself, and refused eye contact with them all. This was the single most humiliating moment of his entire life. Captured by children when he'd been able to slip through the government's fingers so many times. It was just goddamn pathetic.

The woman, named Willow, curled her lips when Sebastian remained silent. "I never like having to do this the hard way," she grumbled. 

A small child, barely four years old, toddled up to her and tugged on her shirt. "I'm hungry," he whimpered. "Did we find any food?" 

She shook her head. "Just wait till dinner time. I think we still have some bread left."

Sebastian had no sympathy for them. He hated children anyway, and this incident only fueled the fires even more. "How cute, you're teaching babies about kidnapping and extortion. That's a great way to start them off."

"It's the world we live in, cocksucker," Willow replied, stroking the child's head. She turned to the others. "Go on, off you go. You don't want to see this." When they were alone, she backhanded him. "I suggest you start talkin', because we are real hungry."

She had a damn good arm, because his cheek stung badly from the strike. He slowly turned his head back to face her with a deep glare. "Not my problem, bitch. So are lots of people. Maybe if you suck my dick I'll give you my name."

"Maybe you'll give me your name if I cut it off," she shot back. "I'm sure it's real nice, too. It'd be a shame. All them women out there who'll never get to suck it, because it ended up roasted and served to a dog." She got the tip of her army knife and dragged it lazily down his chest.

"My name is completely irrelevant," Sebastian growled, eye twitching in irritation at the idea of his penis being served to a dog. "What exactly do you want from me?"

She rolled her eyes and dug the knife slowly into his lower stomach. "I want your valuables," she replied. "I want your guns, I want your ammo, I want your food, I want your information. I want everything."

"Too bad," Sebastian hissed through his pain. "I went through a lot of trouble to get all that shit and I'm not a bloody charity. How about you try again and play nice, little girl."

"I don't think you realize the situation you're in," she replied, mercilessly digging it deeper until the tip of the blade was inside his skin. "And who's gonna use that shit if you're dead?"

Even with the pain in his gut, Sebastian held his ground. "My scientist roommate," he revealed at last. "Who might be the last hope for a goddamn cure. Satisfied, you little slag?"

"Nope," she replied, sitting down in his lap. "You could say I can't be satisfied, actually~" She did not remove the blade, it only slid in a little deeper, pricking his bladder. "And I'll do whatever it takes to look after my group. I could be sucking your dick right now, but that won't give me the leverage I need to get what I want, here. If nothing else....we need food."

Sebastian hissed in pain again, gritting his teeth and squirming a little. "So you've mentioned. If you little bastards are so clever, why don't you barter like everyone else, or at the very least steal when no one's looking?"

"Guess what, good-looking? That ain't an ounce of your business." She belted him again this time, the movement jerking the knife. "You'll take us to your food, and we'll take what we need, nothing more. Maybe some guns. But that's it."

Sebastian sneered. Giving away his carefully-gathered food supply? "I don't think so," he responded with a curl of his lip, even though the knife was extremely painful now. "Tell you what, sweetheart, how about this. You give me back my bike and my gun. You can babysit me if you don't think you can trust me, which I know you don't. And I'll get you some fucking food. But not from my stash. I know who to barter from and who to avoid. If it'll get you the hell out of my hair, I'll show you where I get my food."

"I've been lead into traps before," she said with a faint growl, twisting the knife sharply inside him, then drawing it back, and pulling open his trousers, placing the knife inside his underwear, prodding him. "I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you."

Sebastian let out a strangled moan of pain, cinching his eyes shut. When the knife left, he cracked his eyes open and furrowed his brow, watching the knife. It was very sensitive now. "Sure you could throw me pretty far, Duchess. You're muscly as fuck. Bottom line is, you're not getting my bike or my guns. That's not even up for discussion because I have a really fucking important person to protect. And it's not worth dying just so that he can rot away by himself because he's defenseless. He can't shoot, he can't fight, and he can barely run. I hate his pompous, stuck-up, prudish guts, but I'd really, really rather keep him alive. So let's try this again before I bite off your nose. What else can I possibly offer you besides my personal supplies."

"Those children are starving," she snarled instantly, then sighed. "Well....if he's so important to you," she hissed, "you'd better not betray us, or I'll spill your guts all over the footpath." She gave him a sharp prod with the knife then got off him. "And if you bit me, I'd rip your teeth out with pliers, and we'll wear them all as necklaces." Up she stood, whistling, and the blond boy came back into the room. 

"Get him and get ready to go."

The boy, Finnian, nodded, and began untying Sebastian. Sebastian thought that he would have had more than a chance to escape, but this scrawny boy had the single most powerful grip he had ever encountered in his life. He was blindfolded again, and his legs were freed, but his hands were promptly tied behind his back.

He spoke in a soft, cute voice that fit his youthful, innocent face. "Nothing personal, mister. We're just trying to get by. So if you lead us to a trap, we'll definitely kill you, okay?"

Sebastian would have given him a wary side-eye if he could. "Noted."

"Hey, that man is bleeding!" exclaimed a little blonde boy. "Can I put a frog bandaid on him?"   
"Go ahead," said Willow, and the child hurried up to him, slapping a band aid right over his stab wound rather clumsily. "There!" he chirped with a little giggle. Willow sighed and quickly had someone wrap a bandage around Sebastian, so he wouldn't lose a lot of blood. 

"Time to go."

Sebastian gasped sharply when the child slapped the bandage over his wound. It stung for a long time after the contact, though luckily the wound wasn't terribly deep. Other children were keenly aware that Willow didn't like him, so they jeered and threw rocks at him and hit him with sticks. Their strength was surprising, and Sebastian was quite literally helpless to stop them. Finnian just smiled and let them; he'd listened in on their conversation, and heard the way he'd spoken to Willow.

When they were quite some distance from their hideout, back where they'd first taken him from, they removed his blindfold again. "You get your bike and gun back when you give us food," Willow muttered. "Take us there." She had a small group of older kids with her, each armed sufficiently.

Sebastian glared hard. Without the bike, it would take an hour to walk to the Piccadilly survivor's camp. "Fine. Just get ready to walk," he growled, Finnian pushing him along. Sebastian stepped forward and began to lead them along.

Around the time they were finally getting to Piccadilly, poor William was beginning to stress, pacing back and forth. Oh, where the hell was that intolerable git? He should have been back by now, certainly. It'd been hours. The fear that Sebastian might have been attacked and killed just couldn't be shaken. At least, not until William had something to drink and buried himself in device repair.

There was life around Piccadilly, with a few people out of the buildings to stand guard. They were familiar with Sebastian and what he usually needed, so they went at ease upon sighting him. 

"What's this? Are you babysitting now, Seb?" the dark-skinned woman on duty asked with a smile. "Getting a little extra supplies?"

He scowled at her when he got close. "These little shits held me for ransom," he muttered under his breath. "They need food and the only way I'm getting my bike and gun back is if I get them some. Help me out and I'll pay you back later, Donovan."

She chuckled and gestured them inside the door she was standing before. "Go right on ahead, then."

Willow said nothing to anybody, just had one of her taser kids zap Sebastian. "Shut up," she grumbled. "Nobody said you could speak. Just keep walking."

Sebastian shot her a filthy look, filled with loathing and revulsion. "Pretentious little bitch," he grumbled back. She was even worse than William, and he wouldn't have been surprised if they were somehow related.

The building was once a small stage theatre, but now it served as a shelter and trading post for Londoners. It was dimly lit, as they had a few generators running, and there haphazardly-built tables stacked with canned goods, fresh fruit and vegetables that people grew in their own gardens, and various other goods, food and more. 

"It's not free," he told them irritably. "You have to trade shit to them or otherwise offer services. Fix something for them, or act as a bodyguard for a while. Sex, too. Anything, really. Ask what they want."

"No," Willow replied with a smile, "You're paying, buddy. We need a week's worth of rations for twenty kids. You ask what they want."

Sebastian exhaled sharply through his nose. "I meant for next time you come by this way, Princess," he growled. "Believe me, I'm a convict. You can't live off kidnapping people forever. Sometimes you have to make an honest living." He shoved his way past her to go talk to the vendors.

Willow donned a smug smile and waved him along, folding her strong arms calmly. There were plenty of guns pointed at her group, in case they tried to steal anything, but she had the kids all stand at ease while Sebastian bartered.

Sebastian just wanted to get this over with quickly. His long walk was not making his knife wound any better, even with the bandages on. He made deals with the food vendors -- let the kids take what they need, and he would work all of it off for as long as he needed to. 

It was lucky for the kids that Sebastian had never swindled this group or any of their allies. In his early, more desperate days, he was far more willing to steal. It was a harder lesson to learn when other places began denying him entrance simply because he'd stolen from others. He'd worked hard to get a decent reputation up with these folks, and he had every intention of working off what he 'bought'.

They took a cart containing the food they needed, and Willow was very pleased with the intake. When they were done, and left the building, they took the long walk back to Sebastian's bike. It was very late now, and everyone wanted to get home. 

"Well, off you go," Willow said dismissively, handing Sebastian his gun, stripped of bullets. "Sorry if you end up pissing blood for a week."

Sebastian took the gun and put it back in its holster. He didn't even say goodbye to the group, climbing onto his bike and revving it up much more loudly than he usually did. He was sore as fuck all over just from starting to pay off what he owed. He'd scrubbed out the group's store rooms, inspected their bullet inventory to dispose of fake or flawed bullets, assembled tables someone had acquired, and helped strengthen weak points in the building. Sebastian was fit, but it was a lot more than he normally did one day, and his entire body was screaming at him, especially his stab wound. During the walk back to his bike, he'd begun bleeding through the bandages. He was exhausted, in pain, and all around pretty damn miserable. He didn't even get around to asking for the supplies that he needed.

When he got close to his hideout, he went about looking for a shovel he'd stashed nearby. He found it quickly enough, and he passed over the ground that he knew was over his store rooms. After an inspection, it was clear there was a sizeable hole in the ground. Even if he didn't have cement on hand, he had to do something about this hole. 

Exhausted as he was, he began to dig in the ground nearby to begin filling up the hole. He worked for an hour and he knew that it wasn't even a dent, but it was a start. Exhausted, and now light-headed and faint from the blood loss, he called it quits for the night and began to drive home.

William couldn't sleep. The sun was starting to come up, and Sebastian wasn't back. The brunet sat on the couch, staring at the door, rocking a little. He felt sick, overwhelmed by an inescapable paranoia. Sebastian was dead, surely. Eaten. Shot, with his blood staining the pavement red. William was freezing, but he didn't have the ability to go and turn the heat on. All he could do was stare at the door.

Sebastian felt dead on his feet as he drove through the tunnel back to the lab. He swerved a little, his driving unsteady, but he made it, parking the bike and shutting the engine off. He was just grateful that the little bastards hadn't punctured the tires or emptied the fuel tank. 

He punched in the code to open the doors, and limped in, battered and bruised, covered in sweat, dirt, and oil. God, he just wanted a shower.

When William saw him, he got up and ran over, wide eyed. "You-- you fucking arsehole...You bloody prat!" he snapped, grabbing a hold of him. "I thought you'd been killed! I thought-- oh, so many different ways for you to die and I thought of all of them! I fucking...I was worried..I thought..." 

He lowered his head, still gripping him tightly as his eyes prickled. "Damn it all.." he choked out, resting his head against the man's chest.

The only thoughts that Sebastian had offered William during his time away was that he had to stay alive in order to keep William alive. That was his priority right now, after all, wasn't it? He hadn't expected William to give a rat's ass about his absence, and would have looked surprised to mirror his true feelings if he actually had the energy to make any sort of expression.

He gazed neutrally down at William, blinking slowly. "You were...worried about me?" he asked blankly, looking at the way William's eyes grew wet and glassy.

"What?" William asked, looking up at him from where he was practically hugging him. The way he reddened told the truth even as he stepped back. "...Y-you're injured," he grunted, changing the subject. "You should get in the shower..." He stepped out of his way.

Sebastian was intrigued by this new behavior, but too tired to give much of a fuck yet. "Yeah," he murmured hoarsely. "Was gonna. Been a long bloody day. I'mma do that right now..." He turned and took a few steps over to the bathroom, when it was like all of his strength was just sapped right out of him. He swayed a little on the spot, and then toppled forward, crumpling not-so-gracefully to the ground.

William blinked, a bit stunned as Sebastian collapsed. "Shit...Ah, fuck.." He rolled the man over, pulling his shirt up to see the bloody bandages. Still, that didn't look like enough blood loss to warrant fainting, not for a healthy man like Sebastian. 

William stripped him down, and dumped him in the shower. It was up to him to wash the oil off of the man's body, obsessively scrubbing him clean. He then gave Sebastian some stitches over his stab wound, sterilised and dressed it, rebandaged and clothed the man, before carrying him over to his bed and dumping him there. 

William kept his distance, sleeping on the couch in case Sebastian needed him in the night, and trying to settle down from his high levels of anxiety.

Sebastian slept for the entire day. He was disoriented when he woke up in his own bed, in clean clothes. He attempted to sit up, but his entire body screamed in protest, so the best he could manage was to roll over. There were terrible bruises and welts starting to appear on his skin from where he'd been hit with sticks and rocks. They just made his sore muscles ten times worse, and he groaned quietly with the pain. He didn't remember making it to the shower, so he was very puzzled when he realized he was cleaned up. 

Prudish William cleaning him up was unthinkable, so Sebastian just assumed he'd simply gone on mental autopilot and cleaned up and gone to bed. But -- he paused when he ran a hand over the stab wound. It had been stitched closed. He hadn't done this; he didn't have the knowledge. 

It had to have been William. But why?

Sebastian had been resting for the last few hours, so William had gone to exercise a bit more while he had the privacy. He worked out for nearly two hours, showered, and wandered out in just a towel to go and find some clothes. He paused in the doorway when he saw Sebastian's eyes were open. 

"...You're awake."

"Barely," Sebastian murmured, trying again to sit up, and this time ignoring the screaming protests of his muscles. His entire body felt like one massive bruise. "I feel like I got run down by a bus, though."

"I'm surprised," said William, rubbing tired eyes. "I thought you'd be dead by morning. Guess I did alright." He didn't approach, maintaining his distance. "Can I get you anything?"

"Was it that bad?" Sebastian asked, looking down to examine the fixed wound. He sighed heavily, inwardly cringing in embarrassment at the memory of how it had happened. Fucking kids... "Nah. I don't want to be bedridden...I still have a lot to do, so I might as well get up and help myself," he replied, carefully swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "...I guess I should thank you," he said after a moment. "You're the only one who could've stitched this up. So...thanks, Will."

William blinked at him. It still sounded odd when he heard Sebastian say his name. "Yes, well. What did you expect, I was going to let you just bleed out on the floor?" He rolled his shoulder carefully. 

"Anyway, you helped me out, with the nail wounds. It was the least I could do."

Sebastian nodded as he stood up. He didn't feel faint anymore, though his knees and shins didn't agree so much. Still, he made them walk, and he began making his way over to the kitchen so he could eat. As he passed William, he put a hand on his shoulder in a gentle, appreciative clap and went on his way, when he remembered, and paused. 

"...Were you really worried about me?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

William was watching him carefully to make sure he didn't fall over. 

He didn't want to answer that, because he knew Sebastian disliked him, and he didn't want the man to have leverage over him. But he didn't want to lie, either. 

"Well, we're supposed to be a team, aren't we?" he muttered, folding his arms, then quickly changed the subject. "I made you some food last night. It's in the fridge. You can heat it up."

Sebastian considered it, and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess we are," he agreed as he stepped to the kitchen. "And thanks again. I'm starving." He went ahead and prepared the food William had made, though just a little more slowly than he normally would have. Damn it, he hurt too much to go out and dig again just yet. He'd have to spend the entire day in here.

William followed him in, also quite hungry, and waited before they both had food in front of them before speaking again. "...So...are you going to tell me what happened?"

Sebastian immediately scowled and looked away. That smug little face...

"...I'd rather not," he mumbled.

"Too bad," said William flatly. "Out with it." He pointed his fork at him expectantly and raised an eyebrow. "It can't have been that bad."

Sebastian scowled a little childishly. God he was almost sure that William and that little brat were related. If William knew the truth, he would lose what little respect he may have had for the raven. There was absolutely no dignified way to say he'd gotten booby-trapped, kidnapped, and extorted by some ragtag group of children. What the fuck did that say about everything he'd ever done up that point? That it was just sheer, dumb luck? If children could incapacitate him, then who couldn't? It was just a fucking disgrace and Sebastian did not want to say a word about it.

"Oh, come on," insisted William. "Whatever happened, I would have been ten times less well off. I probably wouldn't have even made it home."

"Look..." Sebastian said quietly, still not looking William in the eyes. "It's stupid and, frankly, embarrassing. I really don't want to talk about it."

"Just bloody tell me," William snapped. "I think I have a right to know, Sebastian. Just get it over with."

Sebastian crossed his arms tightly over his chest, feeling tense. Maybe if he was lucky, William wouldn't believe a word and just think he was making up some story and being immature. "Fine. Fine. A bunch of fucking kids ambushed me on my way to get supplies," he muttered.

William laced his fingers together and leaned forward. "...That is embarrassing," he agreed. "What happened then?"

Sebastian was sullen and mortified to even recount the tale, but he told William the rest of what happened, if only to shut him up. "...Then I got my bike back and I rode off," he concluded, cheeks burning pink with shame and embarrassment. "Before I came back home, I tried to start filling the hole in the storeroom with just dirt, at least, but I was too bloody exhausted to do much so I just...quit and came back." He kept looking determinedly away.

"...You must think I'm a complete embarrassment right now."

"Well," said William slowly, "....I think many things about you, Sebastian Michaelis. But the biggest fault you have here is underestimating the fact that a child could do this."

Sebastian sank back in his chair, keeping his gaze firmly away. "How could they?" he mumbled. "They were kids. The little wankers wanted to rob us blind."

"Sebastian, there are children out there who could bring down the Wall Street stock market in a few swift taps of their fingers. Survival of the fittest, right? If they've survived this long on their own, obviously they're not just a bunch of dumb kids. They've adapted. And your captor seems very intelligent. You are a fool for underestimating them."

Sebastian was silent then, feeling like a child, himself, being scolded his his father. He just poked at his food, stirring it around with his fork, feeling stupid and humiliated. He was not accustomed to failure, much like how William did not deal well with rejection. Sebastian was very much used to being perfect at everything he did. This failure had dealt a massive blow on his ego, and he was not eager for more.

William felt that he'd instilled his point strongly enough, and he began eating. "Still...I'm glad we didn't lose everything, here," he commented. "You did well to bargain with them." 

Naturally Sebastian still wasn't very talkative for the rest of their meal, so William left when he was done, to go and get back to work, testing the server on an old computer in the back of the lab. 

It seemed to be functioning, even if he didn't know how to use it, which meant they had the go-ahead for a trip out to Canary Wharf once more, when the weekend was over.


	7. A Second Chance

_TW: Minor Attempted Rape_

**A Second Chance**

The ride out to the wharf was uneventful. This was on the Wednesday; on the Monday they had gone out, and received a few anonymous offers, but none of them had the element that William needed.   
This time Sebastian chose to sit, as his bruises were still healing and tender. "Wonder who'll find our signal this time," he murmured as he watched William try to tune the radio. "I've got guns, but hopefully I won't need to use them."

William sighed as he sat on the table and picked up the microphone. He hoped it wouldn't be anyone like the Hand of Kali militia, because he didn't like those greedy people at Agni's side, and he hadn't forgiven the man for turning down his offer.

Sebastian was quiet and ever alert, scanning the area with his binoculars again. It was quiet today, save for a breeze that had picked up, blowing rubbish around in gentle whirlwinds. The raven had to tuck his long hair behind his ears multiple times, and it only resulted in static cling. 

Just a few minutes after William finished his broadcast, Agni's voice came over the radio, clear as crystal. "I was hoping to hear from you again, Mr. Spears."

William rested his head on the desk. "Damn it all," he grumbled, tuning in to the private frequency before pressing the microphone button. "Ah, Mr. Ghatak...It only been a few days."

"Indeed, it has," the Indian replied. "My partners, Harold and Meenah West, heard your broadcast and have taken great interest in the item you have found. A server in working order, I believe?"

William turned to Sebastian. "You can do the talking, Sebastian, or I may find myself declining whatever they have to offer." A few days was not long enough to overcome his grudge.

Sebastian gave him a bit of a look, thinking William was being immature. But he stood up and took William's place at the radio. "Yeah, it's a server," he replied after rolling his eyes at the scientist. "I don't know the technical stuff, but I'd take Will's word for it. We found it in one of my store rooms and cleaned it off. What have you got for it?"

There was a pause, and then Agni replied, "We are willing to trade our entire store of Fausalium for it."

William blinked, perking up quite a bit when he heard this. "...H-how much Fausalium?" he asked quietly, his annoyance temporarily forgotten.

Sebastian repeated the question to Agni, feeling like a messenger pigeon and frowning in irritation. When Agni replied again, Sebastian wasn't sure if he heard correctly.

"You recall the amount I showed you when we met previously, yes?" Agni asked with perfect seriousness. "We have agreed to give you five times as much. That is our entire store. Harold and Meenah feel certain that with a server on their hands, they can get the Internet running again and begin to restore global communications."

"We'll do it...." said William into the mic, feeling better since he had his gas mask concealing his face. "Come as soon as you can, I don't doubt people may be interested in what we have, too."

From the way Agni spoke, Sebastian could tell he was smiling. "Wonderful. We'll set out immediately. You are still stationed at Canary Wharf?"

"We are," said William, glancing around the place a bit uneasily, as if he did have the feeling that someone was coming.

"Excellent. Then we'll depart and meet with you immediately," Agni replied. "I hope there are no hard feelings from our previous meeting. I truly wanted to give you the Fausalium then, but I only trade if my entire group agrees with it. Surely you understand."

William paused, then nodded. "I know. The fault is not yours. I do hope that we can make amends now..." He wanted badly to ask if Agni could come alone, but he knew that would seem rude.

"I hope for that, as well," Agni replied softly. "I'll be seeing you soon, Mr. Spears."

Agni Ghatak went off the air then, and Sebastian exhaled slowly before turning to look at William. "...Well, that went well!" he commented with a slightly overly-optimistic tone.

William shrugged. "Better than I thought it would. Sleazy sidekicks or no, the Fausalium is practically ours now. And we could be bringing Internet back to the world."

Sebastian nodded. "I'm surprised they were willing to part with it. You'll be able to tell if it's the real thing, right? And it's, what...just a few pieces we're getting? I hope it's worth it."

"A few pieces will be enough," said William. "And I fixed up another Geiger counter. It'll be able to tell if the Fausalium emits the correct amount of radiation to be legit and viable."

Sebastian nodded, finding himself wondering if Agni would be offended by William using such a device to see if he was telling the truth or not. He was quiet for a moment, watching the trash blow around in the breeze, before he said, "Hey...do you just kinda get a really good feeling from Agni? I mean...I don't normally like people but...I find him really likeable. Like I can really trust him."

"Oh, I do trust him," said William. "Like I've said, I just don't like those two devils on his shoulder. They look seedy and untrustworthy, and alone, I believe Agni would be a very worthy partner. But not while they're whispering in his ear." He folded his arms promptly.

Sebastian nodded in agreement. "Yeah, well... as a devil, myself, I know them when I see them. I bet they'd be really awful if Agni didn't seem to be in charge of them. I wonder what their story is. He seems to have a pretty good hold on them but he's not threatening or anything."

"Is that how you see it?" William asked, lamenting that he hadn't brought any food with him this time. "....It seems more like they're in control of him, to me. Especially that woman."

The raven shrugged in consideration. "I didn't notice anything particularly special about her...what makes you think that?" he asked in curiosity.

"Maybe the weapons she was pretending she wasn't carrying," William muttered. "Or rather, pretending she wasn't a hair-trigger away from pulling out. And her eyes. They were yellowed, dull and narrow. That sort of sneer-slash-scowl she wore...I could go on. The other man wasn't much better, but seriously....And you wanted to fuck her," he finished rambling with obvious distaste.

"Agni, too," Sebastian replied shamelessly. "If he let me. Looked like the lady's ugly husband wouldn't be too keen on me coming onto her. Wasn't worth jeopardizing the trade so I shut up. But anyway...I guess I can see what you mean. I suppose I just didn't pay much attention to those attributes because...they're a reflection of myself." He glanced over at William. "Don't forget that I'm not a very nice person, either. Even if I'm protecting you."

"Yes, but you're not that ugly," William replied. "At least on the outside." At Sebastian’s words, he reddened a little at the thought of Agni with a more substantial lack of clothing. 

"...Agni...he's not a bad, uh, specimen..at all," he muttered, shifting with discomfort. He was still coming to terms with his own sexuality and it still felt odd to speak of males in such a way.

"Agni's very handsome," Sebastian agreed. "I bet before the First Wave, he had harems at his beck and call. God, that'd be nice..." 

He sighed and watched the horizon for Agni's silhouette. It was maybe three quarters of an hour before he saw Agni coming in the distance through his binoculars. He only had the woman, Meenah, with him this time.

William sighed, getting to his feet and straightening his clothes out calmly. When Agni finally reached him, he approached slowly and extended his hand out of politeness.

Agni greeted William with a warm smile just like before and shook his hand firmly. "It's good to see you," he said by way of greeting. "I'm glad you're looking well."

William nodded. "Still alive," he replied, a bit more warmly than usual as he grasped his hand. "So...The server, first of all," he began, not making mention of the missing blond man. He stepped back, digging into his rucksack and taking out the device. "I've been testing it. It's not dead, at least."

Agni gestured to Meenah, who stepped forward eagerly, her heart pumping excitedly.  
"May I?" she asked as she took it into her hands, looking it over. She knelt down in front of them and pulled a laptop from her shoulder bag, opening its lid and turning it on. She procured a few cables and connected the server to her computer, gazing intensely at the screen. 

"It's in perfect working order," she said breathlessly. "This is the best thing we could have gotten. We can definitely start to get the Web back up with this!"

William nodded. Behind his back, his hands fidgeted anxiously. "....Alright, then. We can trade the Fausalium this time?" he asked, his eyes flicking up to the tall Indian's.

Agni nodded, reaching into his own bag and pulling out five sleek, black boxes and laying them neatly on the ground next to Meenah's laptop. "Yes. You may examine them if you have any doubts," he offered. "And also...I brought you a gift, to apologize for last time." He pulled a plastic bag from his satchel as well, and held it out to Sebastian, who took it for William. He had a sniff -- it smelled like curry and fresh bread.

William examined each box, opening one ever so slightly, and then checking the rest via Geiger counter. "I think everything is in order," William announced after several long minutes. "Thank you." He took them and placed them carefully in his own bag.

Agni nodded and gave William a soft smile. "I hope your project goes well. This trade will benefit everyone eventually, not just ourselves."

William almost smiled back, the corners of his lips twitching faintly. He even felt his heart flutter just a little; this was a very odd and unfamiliar feeling. 

"I truly believe my project shall, too."

The moment was broken by Sebastian curiously poking into the bag Agni had given them and discovering hot, steaming curry buns. "Oh, these are amazing. Did you make these?" he asked, clearly impressed after having a bite of one. It tasted wonderful after months of rather bland food, like no curry he'd ever eaten.

William could tell by the way Agni's face lit up that he certainly had made them, and he was prompted to try one himself. 

"Aah..." He dug a curry bun out and took a bite, experiencing a burst of flavor. "...Oh, goodness..."

Agni was very pleased, and just smiled humbly in response to the compliments. "I did, indeed. Thank you for your kindness. It's hard to make them to their full potential with limited ingredients these days, but I work with what I have." 

Sebastian ate his first one very quickly, savoring the complex blend of spices. "You don't need to be so modest. These are fit for royalty."

There was a bit of an odd silence from Meenah and Agni -- Meenah glanced a little worriedly up at Agni, and there was a blank sort of sadness in Agni's eyes, but he smiled anyway. Sebastian wasn't sure what he'd said to upset them, and he frowned.

"Thank you very much," the Indian man said softly. "I think perhaps we should be on our way."

"I agree," said William. "We shall leave now. I hope to see you again sometime." He backed away from them, packing away his radio once more, then heading over to the bike.

"Please journey in safety," Agni told them before he and Meenah left. "Farewell until next time, my friends."

Sebastian made sure they had everything, and he helped himself to another one of the curry buns, unable to resist their sensational flavors. Still, he was puzzled by their reactions to his compliment. "What do you suppose that was about?" he wondered aloud.

William was still nibbling his first one when they got on the bike. "He seems like a very traditional Indian. As far as I know, castes and bloodlines and things are very important to them. Maybe he used to be royalty?" He licked his fingers of the last of the bun then wrapped his arms around Sebastian.

"But the caste system was abolished in the 1950s," Sebastian murmured as he quickly ate his second bun, crumbs and all. "He doesn't seem like he'd be very concerned with things like that." He revved his bike up, getting ready to go.

"Maybe we'll find out some day," said William under the roar of the motorcycle. The sky was overcast, but it wasn't raining...not like last time. 

William and Sebastian began the long ride back, which was approximately 45 minutes, and he found himself thinking about what he and Sebastian had done together, which hadn't been spoken about in several days.

Sebastian thought about it, too, still frustrated he hadn't yet managed to properly get William into bed yet. He supposed he'd take his time, working his way in, so to speak. He was in the middle of thinking about how soft William's lips were when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

He skidded the bike to a stop, the tires screeching, when he properly saw what it was -- a group of Sick Ones. Sebastian had quickly learned to kill them on sight, so he was off the bike in a moment and pulling a shotgun from a hidden compartment in it. He cocked the gun, aimed, and began to fire at the staggering, animated corpses.

William's eyes widened. There didn't seem to be many at first, but then he looked around, and there were quite a few more coming from all sides. 

"...Sebastian?!" he called worriedly, digging for his gun and pulling it out. "At your three o’clock-- there's five! And at your nine, there's seven, er, but one's a little one, could be a kid.."

"It doesn't matter if it's a kid," Sebastian said darkly, taking it out. "It was. Now it's a monster. You remember the tips I gave you to shoot?"

"I know that," William said hurriedly. "I remember." He was certainly beginning to panic, but he tried to recall the tips Sebastian had given him yesterday. The biggest lesson was 'stay calm' and, 'You gotta stop pissing your pants every time'. 

William gripped the gun tightly, and he pointed it straight at the little one and shot it in the head.

The former child that William shot fell instantly, and Sebastian nodded in what could only be encouragement. "Good!" he shouted over the din of their guns. "Very good. If you stop their brains, you stop them. Now just do that again until they're all down!" 

If they focused too much on one cluster at a time, they would get cornered by the others, so Sebastian was making sure they were turning frequently and getting them all.

William had poor accuracy, but he did the best he could. Seeing them fall seemed to show him that they were not invincible.   
It was then he heard laughter coming from one of the rooftops, and William glanced up to see two figures above.

Sebastian could only look up occasionally, needing to keep his eyes on the Infected, but from his brief glances, he could see it was the man who had sold William to the cultists -- Claude Faustus. The other, he had never seen before. A slight and lean man with pale, white, nearly translucent skin, and white hair.

"How cute," Claude called down to them with a smile. "Is he teaching you to shoot, William? That's an improvement; I had thought you were afraid of firearms."

William gazed up at him, all his former affection for Claude long gone. "...What the hell are you doing here?" William asked viciously, still taking down what Infected he could. It wasn't many, to be fair, but at least he hadn't pissed himself. 

The man at Claude's side was kneeling and rocking patiently. He was clad in only a loose robe, and appeared to be albinistic.

"Conducting experiments, like you should be," Claude returned self-importantly. "The Reapers are really quite fascinating. I'm surprised there aren't more people still studying them. It's easy enough to chain them up."

Sebastian shot a puzzled look at William. "What the hell does he mean by 'Reapers'?" he muttered before taking out a few more of the Infected.

"Reapers?" repeated William. "The virus is called the...the Reaper Virus. Once or twice I've heard people called the Sick Ones 'Reapers'..."

"Sounds better than calling them 'zombies' or 'sick ones'," Sebastian muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "This isn't a movie or a cheap bandwagon-leaping novel." 

"When you're done with your idle banter," Claude said in irritation, "you should pay closer attention to your superiors. The next step in evolution is only just beginning. The Reapers are the future -- yours and mine both. Death is going to die."

William turned his gun on Claude, and the albino at his side began rocking faster, emitting a worried humming sound that William could hear even down on the ground. 

"What the fuck? Claude?! I thought you were smart, but you seriously believe in that cultist nonsense?!"

Claude rolled his eyes. "The virus has stages, William. I'll let you in on that much. The ones you call the 'Infected' are only in the first stage of the Reaper virus. Tell me. What is the Grim Reaper's job? Think about that, and the name will begin to make more sense."

"You can name any fucking epidemic virus ‘The Reaper Virus’ and pretend it's divine will if you want," William snarled. "But I won't let you hand over innocent people to be devoured by the latest monster you managed to catch!"

"It isn't divine," Claude replied calmly. "It was fully man-made and very, very intentional." He smiled down at William. "This isn't the wrath of of any god, William, my friend. I am perfectly sane. Men made this virus with a very clear intention, and so far, it's working perfectly. Give it some thought...you're a smart man." 

He gazed down at the gun William was pointing at him. "I wonder if you can even hit me with that gun? I can see how your hands tremble."

There was a echoing bang, and Claude's glasses were shot clean off his face. The scientist's eyes widened, and he glanced to Sebastian, whose shotgun was smoking from a fresh shot. His aim had been deliberate.

"Maybe not, but soon enough," Sebastian replied to him, just as calmly. He could focus completely on Claude now that the Infected -- or the Reapers, rather -- had all been shot down. "For the time being, though, I most certainly can. So unless you want your balls shot off too, I'd suggest that you stop whatever you're doing."

Claude curled his lip at him in a sneer of dislike. "How very obscene. I can't say I care for your choice in company, William."

The albino made a keening sound and ran away covering his ears when the gun went off.   
"I've been with him for nearly two months and he hasn't betrayed me yet," said William. "It only took you one fucking day before you were plotting to hand me over. And you-- I know it was you who let the monsters into our base!"

Claude put his hands in his pockets. "How rude of you. You've scared Pluto away." He sighed and cocked his head, offering William a smirk. "And yes, William, very clever. Well done. And please allow me to let you in on a little secret: I never betrayed you, because I never was on your side in the first place."

He laughed cruelly, but he was cut short when Sebastian fired again, this time, in the stomach. The mad scientist let out a wet cough and doubled over, clutching the wound in his stomach, only to chuckle again. "What a good team you make," he wheezed backing away. "I look forward to seeing you again...Auf Wiedersehen, William."

He backed away from the edge of the roof, out of their sight.

"Auf Wiedersehen..." William grit his teeth, but he knew he couldn't chase him down. 

They had to get out of there before more...Reapers...could come.   
"I'm going to kill him," William growled, taking a few steps back to the bike. "You let me kill him...when we find him..."

"No arguments there," Sebastian murmured, finally lowering his shotgun. "I saw nicer people than him in prison..."

"And what was up with that man at his side? He clearly has some kind of issues...." William was still trembling when he sat down on the bike.

Sebastian shook his head, tearing his gaze away from the rooftop and glancing over at William. "Don't know. I've never seen him before. But he looked like he was at least with Claude...what the hell kind of a name is Pluto, though..."

"Goddamnit. So he was never on my side," William growled to himself, ignoring Sebastian's last statement. "I thought we were friends. Brothers, even...What a sickening traitor."

Sebastian took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, looking back up at the rooftops. He was quiet for a few minutes, allowing William to calm down a little, and then spoke again. 

"Hey...you know I wear my heart on my sleeve, right? We haven't known each other too long, but I just. I'm going to let you know I'm not going to use you like he did. I realized who you were when I went down to kill the S...the Reapers down in your old lab. I mean, anyone could see it was a chemistry lab. You were all looking for a cure, right? So I know it's very important to keep you alive. I want you to be able to find a cure, I really do. Believe me or not, I don't really care. I'm just saying I've got your back, William."

William turned to him, his gaze grim. He was truthfully quite surprised to hear such a thing from this man. "Just....don't betray me," he eventually replied. "I mean it. You're the only one. Just you...my only...friend." He folded his arms after stowing his gun away and pulling his gas mask off.

"No," Sebastian replied with a nod. "I'm not like him." He gave the scientist a faint smirk. "I've got nothing to hide from you. If you piss me off, I let you know." Now that the nervous excitement from killing the Reapers had passed, he dug into his pocket for a cigarette, lighting up immediately. He took a long draft from it and blew the smoke out through his nostrils. "I guess I can say you're my only friend, too. We're stuck together, now."

William nodded. The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, though it was beginning to wear off. "I wonder how many times you saved my life in the last ten minutes," William murmured, a faint smile on his face. "I wonder what sort of debt I'm incurring." 

Sebastian chuckled softly, leaning against his motorcycle and enjoying his cigarette. "Just your soul, nothing big," he replied casually. "You saved your own skin, a few times, though. You're a fast learner...I don't have much left to teach you about using guns except practice and keep them clean. If you don't take care of them, they won't work."

"You're such a demon. I can't believe people even call you Malphas." He nudged the man's backside. "Are you going to get us out of the open or not, demon?" William then asked, adjusting his glasses with an air of impatience.

"Oh, so you've heard that name of mine?" Sebastian asked with a saucy little grin at the nudge to his rear. "What else have you heard?" he wondered as he climbed back onto his bike, carelessly flicking his cigarette butt off to the side of the road.

"I heard," said William, wrapping his arms around him, "that you are a murderer, Sebastian Michaelis, and have been found guilty of sexual assault on more than one account. Are you a rapist?" he asked, taking care not to push on Sebastian's healing stomach wound.

Sebastian made himself comfortable, and soon they were off again. "Suppose so," he replied. "I think of myself as a 'handsome lecher' but apparently I've taken advantage of one drunk person too many. I don't like no for an answer. You know firsthand how handsy I can get when I want someone. Reports of feeling people up in queer pubs, getting too friendly."

William shivered. 

"That's horrible," he muttered. "And shows a complete lack of respect towards your fellow human. Also, queer pubs? I'd seriously pegged you as more of a ladies man, the kind that only takes another male if there was a severe lack of other options."

Sebastian shrugged a little indifferently. "I don't have any particular preferences," he replied, ignoring the scolding. "If they're down to shag, I'll do it, no matter what they've got down their trousers. I don't give much of a damn about my 'orientation' or anything...I just really like sex."

William ran a hand awkwardly through his hair. It had been a long time since he'd done that sort of thing, and it hadn't been spectacular. "Mm...I prefer it when it's consensual, myself." He wondered briefly if Agni...was ever interested in men. He imagined briefly what it would be like to lay that beautiful man down on a bed, or be lain down himself, and his body responded quite instantly to the thoughts.

Sebastian was acutely aware of William's physical response, and he raised an eyebrow before chuckling. "Is this conversation turning you on, Mr. Spears?" he asked interestedly. "At least let me get us home this time."

"I wasn't thinking about you," William replied indignantly, drawing his hips away from Sebastian's backside. Still, that goddamn vibrating wasn't really helping a great deal.

"Who, then?" Sebastian asked, very much curious. "Some old girlfriend? Lady coworker with nice tits?" He listed these possibilities, but he was clever; he remembered the conversation they'd just had before Agni had come back. "...Tall, handsome Indian man?" he added slyly.

William huffed. "Yes, well...I've come to the realization that women just don't do it for me, I think. Tall, handsome Indian men do. Who knows...maybe he'd be interested..." Unlikely, though...especially in a grumpy scientist like William.

"Heh..." Sebastian glanced over his shoulder once they were on a flatter, straight stretch of the road. "Race you to him," he challenged him, an eager gleam in his eyes.

"I will not engage in such nonsense," William replied curtly, a little red in the face. "Unlike you, I don't think of people as pieces of meat with holes in which to stick my cock. Now watch where you're going." He pushed his hips back against Sebastian, just to taunt him. "And that's quite a response to the first person I've ever 'come out' to. But whatever, at least hopefully you'll drop that 'You're a homophobe' bollocks now."

Sebastian rolled his eyes, pushing back against William -- though, damn, he wanted to feel that nice cock up again -- "Oh, you were just so alarmed by the idea that you might be gay that it was really all I could assume," he teased.

"I wasn't alarmed, just...shocked. It was a very sudden realization that I needed time to consider. I've considered it," William snipped, rolling his hips slowly. "If you just sort of assumed you were straight, then a man touches you and tells you that you're not, I think you'd be a bit surprised too."

Sebastian bit down on his lower lip in irritation, determined this time to make it back home. "So I suppose you have me to thank for discovering your sexual identity," he replied, pushing back against William once more. He deliberately rode off road to get a bumpier ride, and therefore more vibrations on the seat.

"Yes, I do thank you for that. What an experience it was," William replied, implying that it wouldn't happen again, even though it was very tempting to bring his hand around and rub the man once more. He'd probably get raped for that, though. It wasn't advisable.

"That wasn't even everything I'm capable of," Sebastian announced a little smugly. "I could make you come with just my fingers...imagine how good I could make you feel with more." This time, he drove with one hand and reached behind him to rub the front of William's trousers, pressing his thumb against the obvious bulge. "How were you planning to take care of this, hmm?"

"Arsehole," William replied, taking his arm and bending it backwards, "Never without my permission."  He was sporting quite a heavy blush now, but they weren't far from home. If he behaved himself, they'd make it home, and he could go into his bedroom to take care of it.

The motorcycle swerved when Sebastian got his arm bent, but he pulled it free and put his hands back on the handlebars, scowling. "Don't rile me up and lead me on, then," he growled.

"I did no such thing," William replied calmly. "I can't help that I was thinking about somebody else. I can't help that you're as bad as a dog in heat." From behind him though, he was smirking, glad to have gotten Sebastian uncomfortable.

Sebastian slammed his breaks again, giving William a deathly serious glare. "Do not. Compare me. To a dog," he said very quietly, all of the humor gone from his expression.

William narrowed his eyes. "Oh, touched a nerve, have we?" he asked. "Come on...let's just go home." He really didn't want to have the shit beaten out of him once again.

The raven huffed and sped off again, heart racing in anger. He just really, really fucking hated dogs, and the very idea of being compared to one, or referred to as one, brought responses of complete ire to him. Good feelings gone, he ignored William's arousal now and spent the rest of the ride in silence.

William refused to feel bad about whatever he'd done to upset Sebastian. Dogs were beautiful, loyal creatures. William was more of a dog person than a cat person, though he was really very fond of all kinds of animals and would have loved a pet. He hadn't seen his mouse for a while though. When they arrived back he just slid off the bike, put his backpack and weapons down in the loungeroom, and headed off to his room.

Sebastian was going to get William back for the remark, and the sooner, the better. He grabbed the scientist by the wrist before he could retreat, yanked him forward, and crushed their lips together in a vicious, bruising kiss.

William was pulled into the kiss, and immediately began to protest. "H--Hey!" he snapped, struggling against him. "I told you-- not without my permis-- a-agh!" He then tried to bring his knee up into Sebastian's groin.

Sebastian quickly backed William up against the wall, pinning the scientist's wrists up above his head. As for his knee, Sebastian simply ground against it, working his way up William's thigh until their hips touched. "You want this," he growled into William's ear. "I'll teach you not to tease me. You want relief, I want relief, and you've pissed me off. This'll solve our problems right here and now."

"No!" William protested, trying to bite him. "You-- you fucking scumbag lowlife rapist-- get off me!" Biting wasn't working, and neither was headbutting. Instead he drove the heel of his foot right into Sebastian's instep.

The raven held both of William's wrists tightly in one hand, the shackle on his wrist pressing into William's skin as a painful reminder that Sebastian was, in fact, a criminal. He shoved his hand down William's pants and gave his member a squeeze, kissing him roughly and violently to shut him up.

"I told you. I don't like to take no for an answer."

"It's time you started l-learning-!" William gasped out, trying to turn his hips away. He let out a cry of frustration. "Goddamn you! Damn it, get away from me, demon dog!"

Sebastian raked his fingernails down William's member as hard as he could before he withdrew his hand and used it to positively slug William across the face. He bit down William's neck, lifting up his knee to press sharply into William's gut. "Don't you dare call me that, you piece of shit -- " he snarled.

William's body was suddenly on fire, not in a literal way, but not in a good way either. "Get off me, bastard," William gasped, then changed tactics. "Sebastian-- please, think about what you're doing. Don't do this!"

Sebastian was seeing red, and he forced William down onto the floor, breathing hard and struggling with the scientist's clothing. "And what am I doing?" he snarled. "You owe me, remember?"

William was forced onto his knees, wide eyed and afraid. "You said soul, not body!" he shot back, kicking backwards and striking Sebastian in the lower stomach, right over his healing wound.

Sebastian froze for just a split second when he saw the frightened look on William's face, and it was just enough time to allow the kick to connect with its target, and the raven collapsed, coughing hard, completely winded. A horrible, electrifying, stinging pain spread through his body with the healing wound as its epicenter, and he curled up into a ball, clutching the wound in agony.

William promptly yanked the gun from Sebastian's belt and pointed it at him, his eyes glassy with tears. He stood up, never taking his eyes off him, and began to back away.

Sebastian coughed out a mouthful of blood, shaking badly, and slowly looked up at William. His eyes widened with shock and fear when he realized what was happening. He said nothing, just breathing heavily with terrible rasps, waiting for his fate.

William didn't run, and sank to the ground when his back touched the wall. He still held the gun at him, though it was unlikely that he could pull the trigger. William truly had no words for him. In one eye a tear spilled over his lashes and dripped down his cheek. 

Sebastian had...turned...on him.

For the first time in his entire life, Sebastian began to realize what exactly he'd done, when he saw that sick, horrified, frightened look on William's face. He lay motionless on the ground, eyes directly on William, as the gravity of what he'd done began to sink onto his soul, crushing him slowly.

His mouth was dry, and he could not get out the words he knew were there and needed to be said. Each breath was a soft, feeble little rasp, and his mouth held the metallic taste of his blood, which was beginning to pool beneath him from the wound being torn back open.

Gasping quietly, he tried to force out his words. They came, nearly inaudibly, but they were there. 

"...I'm...sorry..."

William blinked, and another tear fell. He gripped the gun tighter, but it was shaking worse than ever. 

For now, he was just speechless. He couldn't even ask 'why?' Or 'How could you?' It hurt, the same way it had hurt when Claude had betrayed him, but with a bit more physical pain, and he scarcely stifled a sob. "...."

Sebastian weakly reached a trembling hand up in a half-hearted attempt to defend himself. "D-don't...please..." he rasped quietly. "I'm...s...I'm sorry..."

William tossed the gun aside, and it skittered across the floor. He drew his knees up to his chest and buried his face in his arms. 

"I...c-couldn't shoot you..arsehole.."

Carefully, painfully, Sebastian sat up, taking deep breaths to calm down. "I'm...I'm an idiot..." he whispered, clutching his hand over his wound. "World...class...rubbish."

William wasn't about to disagree with him, but he couldn't help but wonder if the sociopath was feeling regret. 

That was impossible, wasn't it?

Which had to mean he was faking it and just didn't want to get shot.

Sebastian was breathing hard as the emotional weight, the realization, that he'd never felt, continued to crush him. "I...w-we almost...I nearly...I tried..." he stammered, heart racing. He glanced over the red marks he'd left on Williams mouth and neck, and realized with overwhelming horror that he was more than someone to just keep alive. He'd wanted to protect William, hadn't he? That had been important, from the start. But now, seeing what he had done, guilt came crashing down with the realization that he also needed to keep William free from any harm. Even from himself. And he'd fucked that up, most likely beyond repair. 

These feelings were completely, absolutely foreign to Sebastian -- if he had ever felt guilt, regret, or sorrow, it had been a very long time and they had been buried away somewhere deep. 

"I won't..." he uttered, slowly shaking his head. "N-not again. I'm sorry..."

William glanced up at him, his glasses fogged up from his breath. He didn't know why, but his muscles felt really stiff and he didn't feel as if he could move far at all. 

It was likely Sebastian was faking it, but something in his eyes looked real, looked...human. 

"Come here," William rasped, drawing a shaky breath.

Sebastian had tensed up very much in his fear and newfound regret, his own muscles stiff, but he gradually scooted himself over, closer to William. It was absolute hell on his wound, but he moved, crawling so he was right in front of the scientist. He didn't know what to expect, or if he should be afraid.

William took a hold of Sebastian's shirt, and carefully pulled him closer. With Sebastian against the wall too, William rested his head on his shoulder, a few tears tracking his cheeks.

Sebastian let out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, exhaling shakily and shutting his eyes as William embraced him.

This, too, was a sensation he was unfamiliar with. Outside of sex, he never held or was held by people, and he honestly didn't have any memories of being hugged as a child, either. It was strange, and almost frightening, and yet there was something comforting about being held close by another living human being. 

He shakily reached up his hands and returned the embrace. He hadn't ever thought he was capable of tears, but through all the confusing new emotions and sensations, he became rather overwhelmed, and his eyes grew glassy and overflowed with them. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered again, listlessly. Suddenly, he was no longer this hardened criminal, but much more like a little boy recognizing his wrongdoings for the first time.

Oh, he was crying. Sebastian was genuinely crying. "You're really telling the truth, aren't you?" William whispered, holding tighter to him. He didn't know why, but he leaned up then and kissed him gently on the soft, wet lips, and ignoring the faint taste of blood. The feeling of being held like this was nearly as unfamiliar to William as it was to Sebastian. Choking back a sob, he managed,  "...I'm sorry too."

Sebastian wanted to decline the kiss, another impossible first in his life, but he felt compelled to stay there like that in William's arms and allow him to do what he liked. "You didn't do anything wrong," he whispered shakily against William's lips, their tears mingling together. "I...I was..."

William drew breath, resting his forehead against Sebastian's, and blinking out a few tears. "I knew...I knew you were in there, somewhere," the brunet said to the raven. "Please, god, tell me you would have stopped."

Sebastian felt that his tears made him weak, and he reached up to wipe them away, in some effort to look and feel stronger. "When...when I saw that look in your eyes," he said very quietly. "Your fear...I...I was hurting you. I'm not supposed to hurt you...I'm supposed to protect you."

"Tell me," said William again, gritting his teeth, "that you would have fucking stopped. I-I need to know...right now," he sniffed, wiping his eyes up in turn.

Sebastian sniffed as well and nodded. "Yes," he replied, finally meeting William's gaze. "Yes, I would have stopped." That was what he had meant to convey in his previous statement, but he was emotional and the meaning was lost.

Williams's expression softened a little, and he held him again, taking his hand lightly and kissing him once more. "Show me...that you can be a good person. This planet has become so corrupted, and so have its people. So...show me that there is still good left."

Sebastian exhaled shakily, looking into William's eyes, feeling heavy doubt in himself. "I don't...I don't know if I'm the person you should be asking that..." he whispered, lifting his bloodied hand and showing William the shackle that remained at his wrist. "I would have stopped for you this time. But up until now...I didn't. I'm not a good person, William. I would have killed those children for what they did to me if I had known where they were hiding out. I..." he looked away. "...I would like to show you what you want to see. But I can't change overnight."

"Don't say that," William urged him weakly. "Don't say that. How can I become your friend if you're a raping child-murderer? I believe you can be better. I really do. Just now...just now, seeing how much what you did to me hurt you...made me see that you can change. Damn it..." William sat back and looked solemnly at him. "I believe that."

Sebastian's hands fiddled with the broken handcuffs like they frequently did. "I do think I can change," he said quietly. "Just...not very fast. This isn't a fairy tale, you know. I'd like to change, for you. But I...don't want to become weaker as a result. I mean...shit, if I grow softer...more trusting of people, in this world? I can't...protect you that way. I've only survived this long by being a hardass, merciless piece of shit."

William dropped his eyes, shaking his head. "Alright, S-Sebastian. Alright." The last thing he wanted was to be lectured right now. "Just...do whatever you want. Not to me. But to other things. It's your life...I won't dictate it..." He drew his knees back up.

Sebastian leaned back against the wall, putting his hand back to his wound. "I know I should be a better person," he said quietly. "I wasn't raised around good people. You're probably the only decent person I've ever known and called my friend." He glanced back to William with a solemn, pained look. "...I need you to show me how to be better."

William raised Sebastian's shirt gently, looking at where he'd been bleeding from his stitches. "I'll show you," William said very quietly. "But you need to listen. I'm not saving the world for rapists and murderers, and, and, zoophiles. I'd rather die. I need to know there is some good left, because I don't know what I'm fighting for otherwise." 

He got up and brought back Sebastian's first aid kit.

Sebastian was quiet for a moment, understanding William's words, except...

"What the hell's a zoophile?" he asked when William returned with the first aid kit.

"People who are sexually aroused by animals," William replied. "Bestiality and the like..." He had collected himself now and just focused on fixing up Sebastian's wound.

Sebastian let out a small laugh upon hearing the answer, and cinched his eyes shut once William began closing the wound again. "If it makes you feel any better, I only fuck humans," he murmured through gritted teeth. "And I use condoms; don't wanna get sick, now do I..."

William rubbed his eyes and exhaled. “Just...go and lie down on your bed. You'll feel better in a few days. I have work to do."

"What work?" Sebastian asked a little hazily, sitting back up with difficulty. Come to think of it, he didn't really know what William did all day besides tinkering with whatever he found around the lab...

"I'm not surprised you have forgotten," said William, "but I just acquired an immense power source. I need to study it in great detail. That's what I do. I'm a chemist. Soon, we may even be able to put it in the portal."

Sebastian relied heavily on the wall to get himself back up to his feet. He hobbled over to where his gun lay abandoned on the floor, and picked it up to put the safety back on. He was honestly surprised it hadn't gone off when William threw it.

"I hope so," he murmured as he wiped it clean and put it away. "If you get the portal working...can you tell it where to open up?" Slowly, carefully, he limped his way to his bed, shedding his jacket as he went and tossing it to the sofa.

"Tell it where to open up?" William echoed. "Alright, look. We have a portal platform. We need another working portal platform to get anything to open up. If there are multiple ones, judging by the user interface, I think I would be able to select to which platform it goes to..I hope."

"Ah," Sebastian replied simply as he sat down on his mattress. The springs inside it creaked a little as he added his weight to them. "I wonder what kind of places would have portals too," he muttered as he laid down. "Maybe other mad scientist labs, or shady government agencies..."

"I'd say science lab," William agreed. "And if its working, there's a high chance there are scientists there. That's where I need to be."

Lazily, Sebastian kicked his boots off, letting them flop down to the floor with gentle little thuds. "See if you can make sure they can stay out of this end," he told William. "You're the only guest I'll let in here...I don't need a bunch of people parading through my hideout."

"Well, as long as your priorities are straight," William replied flatly. "Rest now," he ordered him. "I'll see you later, Sebastian..."

Sebastian made a small sound of acknowledgement at first, but then before William could leave, he sat up a little. "Hey..."

William turned very slowly, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "What?" He asked abruptly, raising an eyebrow.

The raven faltered a little, and averted his gaze. "Thank you...for not..." he started, and then hesitated again. "...Thanks for the second chance, Will."

"I hope it was the right choice," William replied, then disappeared out the doorway and went to his room to be alone.

Sebastian laid back down, resting his head on the pillow, and stared out into the empty space that William had previously been occupying. He hoped that it had been the right choice, as well.


	8. Dog

William worked tirelessly for the next day or so, studying the radioactive element and its viability for the portal. It helped him try to forget the awkward situation that had happened with Sebastian; he truly wished to think that it never happened. 

He wouldn't talk about it, and Sebastian didn't really seem inclined to, either.   
This was why William didn't want to get close to him; he was afraid of him, and Sebastian had proved that these fears were not unfounded. William just had to believe he'd try to change. 

Devices capable of handling radioactive materials had been built, but William needed a hazard suit before he could expose himself to the Fausalium. The fact of the matter was that he had to wait until Sebastian felt better before they could go anywhere, and there was little more frustrating than a mundane obstacle impeding scientific progress.

Sebastian mostly just slept during the time that William worked. There wasn't much else he could do while the wound healed again, so he stayed in bed, getting up only to use the bathroom, or to eat a small something.

He didn't speak much to William, either -- he was acutely aware of a rather peculiar situation in which he wasn't really in trouble, exactly, but the balance between them bad become very precarious and delicate. He watched his mouth carefully, not wanting to tip that balance out of their favor. It was for the better that he didn't speak much anyway, he thought. 

Being asleep most of the time probably brought William some peace of mind, anyway, knowing where Sebastian was at any given moment and not having to worry about him as he worked. 

A greater part of two days passed before Sebastian felt comfortable enough to get back out and work. There was still the danger of his wound ripping open if he worked too hard, but he'd keep things light. Riding his motorcycle was something the wound could handle.

"D'you need to go out?" he asked on the third morning as he prepared them some coffee. He missed real coffee and real tea, not this instant rubbish.

William looked up from his paper-crowded desk, rubbing tired eyes. He barely had the energy to raise an eyebrow at him when he saw that Sebastian was actually making them both a cup of coffee. "Huh...well, no, I don't need to go out. There is something I need, but I haven't the faintest clue where I'd get it from..."

Sebastian stirred the coffee crystals into the hot water, feeling tired and pensive, and very much looking it. "Not a clue?" he repeated absently. "What do you need?"

"A hazard suit. The Geiger counter readings I took indicate high levels of radiation from the fausalium, and I can't be handling nuclear elements with my bare hands. You know the hazard suits? Big orange sort of jumpsuits with a clear mask...?" William murmured in a flat sort of tone, drawn in by the smell of the coffee.

Sebastian had seen them everywhere when the First Wave broke out; he was familiar. "Yeah, they were everywhere," he replied, setting a mug on William's desk. "We can probably find one somewhere. It won't be too difficult."

"Are you feeling well enough to...go out again?" William asked a bit more tentatively than he would have liked. He refused to feel guilty for hurting Sebastian. "I can't have you fainting in the middle of the road."

Sebastian nodded and had a sip from his own coffee mug. "Yeah, that's why I asked," he answered, sitting down at the crooked table. "I've been asleep for the past two days. That's enough rest; I'll get cabin fever if I'm stuck in here much longer."

"I understand," said William. "...I've been hearing thunder for the last two days, though. I don't think the weather is good. Maybe I should stay here. I even heard once that monsters come out in the storms." Normally he'd disregard such nonsense, as a scientist, but the truth was monsters were real. You stay alive if you listen to advice.

"Nah, it's just the same as always during storms," Sebastian told him. "We would have noticed if there was any particular difference. We'll be armed, in any case." He cast a significant glance over at his map. "And my map is...well, mostly reliable. It's not any big comfort, but it's better than going in blindly."

"We don't want to get sick," William protested. But honestly he'd rather risk that than a stir-crazy Sebastian. "Oh, alright, but we'd better make it quick." He drained his coffee quickly and went over to load his gun.

"We'll be fine," Sebastian said confidently. "Just dress warmly. I've got a couple of ponchos so we can stay dry in a pinch." He drank his coffee in a hurry as well before getting ready to go. He took a three-minute shower and pulled on a long-sleeved undershirt, one of his usual button-ups, a light jacket, and then his bomber jacket. 

"A good plus to wearing a lot of layers is that it makes it difficult for the Reapers to bite you," he pointed out. "The thicker, the better, but you don't want to constrict your movement. I know a lot of people who wrap their arms and legs with duct tape before they go out. They leave the joints free so they can move quickly. I've got some in my storage rooms."

William put on as many clothes as he could, and laced his boots very tightly. "We'll be okay. Lets just get going."

When they were on the bike and speeding along the tunnel, the ground of which was quite wet from water dripping down from above. William said into Sebastian's ear, "I had a dream last night that this tunnel began to flood. We were drowned instantly. We didn't even stand a chance. That...couldn't really happen, could it?"

Sebastian glanced up around them and then back at William. "I doubt it," he murmured. "It's got plenty of drains that lead out to sewers and things...what could make it flood?"

"If the city above us were to experience a flash flood of some sort. And knowing you, you've probably sealed those drains...Ah, don't mind me. It was just a dream....I dream about death every night."

William sat back and put on his gas mask.

"I haven't sealed the drains," Sebastian replied, pulling his own mask on as well. "I don't think you have to worry about us drowning." He sighed, his voice now muffled from the mask. "Most people dream about that too. One way or another. But I don't believe in dreams as premonitions or anything like that...I mean, it's only your brain's subconscious. Nothing more than that."

"You're telling me that?" William asked flatly, shifting his grip around Sebastian's waist. He was holding on rather loosely, the past desire from gripping him tightly was lost after the incident a few days ago. 

"Still, though. Drains become full when there's nowhere for the water to go. I'd hate for our deaths to be because of something as pathetic as a flood."

"There's no use in worrying about it," Sebastian responded a little irritably. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll make sure they're clear and I'll go figure out where it dumps, though I'm pretty sure it's the Thames."

"The Thames floods," William grumbled," and they went up their elevator to the surface world. As expected, it was pissing rain, as it had been for the last few days, and the gutters were full of storm water. Lightning flashed off in the distance, and William groaned.

Sebastian gripped his handlebars more tightly. Before they left their cover, Sebastian pulled the ponchos out of his bag so they could stay drier. "Just stop fretting about it," he muttered as he pulled his on. "If it happens, it happens. We'll deal with it then."

William took his poncho and zipped it up tightly before getting back on the bike. It was an annoying plastic kind, but it was much better than nothing. "So where exactly are you taking us?" he asked. "It's nearly two hours to the nearest nuclear plant, and I don't trust the place after the leak in one of the reactors in 2016. I bet, if there are Infected-- Reapers, whatever, there...and I bet my hat there is...they're probably even more monstrous." 

He sat back and looked up at the sky from behind his gas mask. "...Maybe we can even attribute radiation to the strange new changes we've noted in the creatures."

"First place we're going to look is the underground shopping place I told you about," Sebastian told him as he rolled out. "I've definitely seen some there. There were a few workers who were living down there after the Waves ended and they couldn't get back to whoever they worked for. Couldn't, wouldn't, dunno. But they might be willing to sell or trade. After that, I don't know. Maybe the Royal London hospital, though it's quarantined so I doubt they'll let anyone in or out. We'll have to see. It's better to try than to do nothing."

"Right...." William had no choice but to simply wait as Sebastian drove through the hard rain, hoping the shopping place wasn't too far, and that it wasn't flooded either. 

Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant drive.

It wasn't terribly far away, only about fifteen minutes -- but those fifteen minutes felt a hell of a lot longer when you were cold and wet, eager to get out of the rain. Sebastian drove down into a tunnel that began to lead underground, and they rode through an abandoned parking structure that would lead to the shops. The entrance to the shopping was closed by a heavy steel gate that had to be lifted up by at least three men. Sebastian parked his bike, shut it off, and pocketed his key, pulling his poncho off and shaking it out so he wouldn't drip everywhere.

Running a hand through his wet hair, Sebastian approached the gate and gave it a distinctive shake that formed a rhythm -- a secret password to alert those inside that he was human and not a monster.

William just watched from afar, his hand on his gun. He was not familiar with this part of town and hadn't studied it on Sebastian's map. It was in the completely opposite direction to Canary Wharf and Big Ben. He was cold, and was shifting from foot to foot to keep warm as they waited for people to come along and let them in.

It didn't take long for a few armed men to approach the gate and see who was there. They recognized Sebastian, but they had never seen William before, and gave him a wary look.

"It's fine, he's with me," Sebastian told them. "He's a friend."

One of the men nodded, and together they lifted up the heavy gate, once controlled by electronics, now operated by pure manpower. Sebastian beckoned William through, and the gate shut behind them. It was a little warmer inside -- they had generators, and carefully-watched space heaters. Sebastian had been meaning to get one as he had no central heating in his lab. Once in, he began asking around if there were any hazard suits up for trade.

William crept over to one of the heaters, and there he stood for the entire of the time Sebastian questioned for trade, since he'd already handed over his most recent bag of goodies to Sebastian when they got off of the bike. 

Someone was watching him very closely -- a woman. 

"Take off your mask," she ordered, and William obliged slowly. She got a good look at him, and clearly approved, but didn't lower her gun at all.

Sebastian did obtain one of the space heaters, shaped like a satellite dish, because he had seen the way William shivered and he was pretty tired of the cold, as well. Fall was nearing its end and winter was coming, so better to get a heater sooner than later. It would be harder to trade once snow fell.

After quite a lot of poking and prodding about, he was able to find a hazard suit. Before he traded anything for it, he and the trader brought it to William for him to examine, to see if it was acceptable.

"It belonged to a friend of mine who was trying to clear people from the most highly contaminated areas," the trader said quietly. "He was killed by other survivors trying to take his supplies, so it might not have very much radioactive residue on it, if any."

"You brought your reader thing, right?" Sebastian asked, glancing up at the woman holding a gun up to William. He gave her a bit of a look, eyes slightly narrowed.

"The Geiger counter," William replied, and nodded, a bead of rain water trickling down the side of his face from his wet hair. He took it out of his pocket very slowly, and went over to the table to run it over the suit. He was quite careful, and to his delight it did not contain enough residue to harm him at all. 

"This should be fine," he told Sebastian.

Sebastian watched the bead of water trickle down William's face, finding such a simple image very attractive and difficult to turn his gaze away from. He was yanked back to reality when the scientist spoke, and he nodded. "That's really lucky then. What can we trade for it?"

The trader eyed Sebastian's prized bomber jacket, but before he could even open his mouth, the raven added smoothly, "Besides my grandfather's jacket, that is."

The trader looked mildly sulky and cupped his elbows into his hands, arms folded across his chest. "Well, honestly any jacket will do," he replied. "We've been running low here with the weather getting colder. Anything warm would be appreciated."

Sebastian glanced back at William -- he'd had an electric blanket that he'd pulled out of one of his storage rooms, but he was reluctant to part with it now that the seasons were changing. He'd used it last winter and it served him well. "What do you think?" he asked him quietly.

William glanced at him, then unzipped his poncho, revealing the jacket he was currently wearing. "What about this one?" he asked. "It's really warm." And, he thought, trading a simple item of clothing was a much easier and convenient trade than what they'd done with the Kali militia.   
He inched a little closer to Sebastian, not liking when everybody's eyes were on him all at once. The winter he'd spent in the bunker was a bit chilly, but they had ample heating down there. William didn't understand the value of a jacket up on the surface world.

Luckily for William, Sebastian did. "William, you'll freeze up on the streets," he murmured with a frown. "We haven't got any extra jackets left since Big Ben..." 

He glanced down at William's Geiger counter. "What about things you could fix?" he asked quietly. "I'm sure they have plenty of things they could have for you to do down here."

William looked unhappily at the group of people staring at him, and he tried not to tremble. He was not comfortable with these people at all, and he gave Sebastian helpless, but defeated look. "I really don't mind parting with my jacket," he muttered under his breath.

Sebastian shot a dark look at the small crowd of onlookers, and like magic, all dispersed but the trader and the guard. "You're going to mind when we go back up to the streets. Winter's coming and you're going to need it more than ever. We can't trade our jackets," he said quietly and seriously.

They could see that William was very uneasy, and they didn't like it. He ran a hand through his hair. "S..Sebastian, can we talk about this?" he asked, which was when the sound of a gun went off, and William crumpled to the ground, gazing in horror at his leg. His shin had only just been caught by the bullet, but it started bleeding quite a lot. 

The culprit stepped forward, the woman from earlier. "Don't waste our time, asshole," she snipped in an irritating Boston accent that William had noticed earlier on. "I want the jacket, or you'll get nothin'."

Sebastian instinctively stepped before William, protecting him and shielding him from further shots. He reached up and swiped the gun so that it was no longer pointing at them anymore. "What the hell is your problem?!" he snapped. "You're not even the one trading, you bitch. Back away now. This doesn't concern you. This is his first time trading and I won't let you rip him off."

"I think it's you rippin' us off," she replied. "It ain't none o'your business, but that's my boyfriend you're trading with, which makes it my business."

"Fucking Americans," Sebastian muttered under his breath. "Greedy as always. That's his only jacket, previously mine. What we're wearing on our backs are the only jackets we've got with us, and we can't trade them. He's damn useful -- or he was, before you got your itchy trigger finger going and shot his leg out. He's a scientist, he fixes things and makes things. He made that Geiger counter. He could do a hell of a lot more for you than that hazard suit is worth. So how about you stop wasting your bullets, calm down, and kindly fuck off."

She looked over at her boyfriend, and he nodded add her. She scowled and stalked out of the room. William looked like he was going to be sick, he was white and trembling quite badly. He'd never been shot before. Was he going to die? Would Sebastian shoot him like he would a lame horse?

Once she was gone, Sebastian turned and knelt down before William, fury dominating his expression. He glanced up at the trader with a dangerous glare. "I think just for that, you can let us have the suit for free, how does that sound? He doesn't owe you jack shit after getting shot for no reason. Thank your dirty Yank girlfriend later. Get us some medical supplies, too. Aspirin, especially."

He would hear no word to the contrary. He turned his attention back to William and began unlacing his boot so he could roll the pant leg up. "Deep breaths. Breathe slowly," he told him quietly. "You're going to go blue if you hold your breath much longer."

It was true, William had been holding his breath. He didn't fancy the sounds he'd make if he wasn't. "Mm--n-nn..." He bit down on his hand to shut himself up and just gripped Sebastian's arm tightly.

Sebastian laid William down on his back and propped his leg up. "Well?" he demanded of the trader, a hot, blazing rage burning behind his eyes. Sebastian would have spat fire at him if he could. "Go get what he needs unless you'd like to be cleaning your blood from the floor as well."

The trader jumped and quickly absconded, looking pale -- Sebastian scared the shit out of them when he got like this. They knew his reputation -- no one could miss the broken handcuffs permanently stuck to his wrists -- and many had seen him in action when he killed Reapers. He had a very well-earned reputation and there was an unspoken agreement to give him what he wanted. He was a fair trader, but in an event like this, everything was just handed right the fuck over.

Sebastian rolled William's trouser leg up to examine the wound. "I've seen worse," he muttered. "But I'm guessing you haven't. Come on, keep breathing, William."

William swallowed thickly, feeling quite numb. He could scarcely even feel the pain right now, which was surprising. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked in a very quiet little voice, staring off into nowhere in particular. "You said yourself that I was useless..."

Sebastian was so surprised to hear this that he stopped what he was doing to stare, dumbfounded, down at the injured man. "Are you an idiot? Of course I'm not going to fucking kill you," he replied incredulously.

"Isn't that what people do!?" William asked. "What f-fucking good am I if I can't r-run..." He gripped tightly at his chest, trying not to panic. "Dead weight."

Sebastian waited impatiently for the medical supplies to be brought. "Stop. Stop it now," he whispered sharply. "You're better than your goddamn legs. We'll just bring you back home and you can work on your portal while your leg heals. You have a brain, and unless I'm mistaken, it's a hell of a lot better than that backwater slag who shot you. I'm not going to kill you."

There weren't any Reapers around, but...that didn't mean William shouldn't listen to Sebastian's lessons in other situations too. He had to stay calm. His grip on Sebastian's arm was practically vicelike, it helped him bear with it. Kind of like a stress ball. 

"Alright," he said quietly. "...Let's just get out of here as soon as we can..." He didn't even care about the hazard suit anymore, he just wanted his piles of blankets and a hot cup of tea.

"You're not a bloody horse," the raven murmured, practically snatching the first aid kit from the trader when it was brought to him. He began cleaning up the wound and bandaging it up. "Yeah, I'm planning on getting out of here quickly. Apparently they aren't as friendly as I remembered." He rested a hand on William's -- he was nearly in danger of cutting off the blood circulation in his arm.

There was no bullet in William's leg. It had shot through the side of his leg, taking a chunk of flesh with it. Luckily, however, the bone had not been touched. "I can't...believe..." he breathed, taking Sebastian's hand and gripping it just as tightly as he was his arm, "...over a bloody...a jacket...I...." He blinked quickly and swallowed.

"That's how it is," Sebastian replied with a frown and a furrowed brow. "People get vicious. They're no better than animals. And she's a Yank, so she's even worse. I've met plenty of people just like her. Greedy, senseless dogs who'd shoot you for...what was it you said once? 'A teenth of meth'? They'll shoot for even less than that."

When William's leg was bandaged up, he had Sebastian help him to his feet. It was pure agony to put weight on. "There's little more irritating to me then that accent, too," William grumbled, still awfully pale. "Where's the fucking suit? I want to get out of here."

Sebastian took the suit, their Geiger counter, and the first aid kit, packing them into his bag. The space heater wouldn't fit, so he just helped himself to some plastic wrap and made sure it was completely waterproof for the ride home. He had Bungee cords he could secure it with. "Bahstin," he mimicked scornfully, very much in agreement. "Get in the cah. We'e gehttin' chowdah." 

Once he had everything, he gave William his shoulder to help him walk so he didn't have to put weight on his shin. "I'd look for a cane or crutches but it's better to just get the hell home," he muttered as they made their way out. Everyone gave them a wide berth and filed away mental notes to not touch a hair on William's head. They'd never known Sebastian to bring anyone along with him, ever -- they knew he lived alone somewhere -- so to bring someone along was a fairly big deal. William had to be important. Somewhere off in the distance came the noises of loud, even violent arguing, probably the trader and his girlfriend. Sebastian paid it no mind and they made their way back out through the gate they'd come in through, the guards casting a wary look at Sebastian.

The raven said nothing and helped William onto the motorcycle.

"Fine by me," William replied. "There's probably something I can fashion into a cane myself, anyway." He had re-secured his poncho and held tight to Sebastian as they prepared to make the trip home. What was supposed to be a completely smooth ride back to the lab was interrupted by one small thing, a grey, speckled dog limping out into the middle of the wet, muddy road. Its whimpering could be heard from some distance away and it just stared mournfully at them as they approached. 

"S...Sebastian, stop!" William urged.

Sebastian didn't see the dog, but William's sudden cry startled him into stopping the motorcycle only a yard away from the poor dog. "What? What's the matter?" he asked, immediately glancing down at William's leg and expecting to see heavy bleeding.

William got off the bike, he himself limping severely as he went out to meet the poor creature. "Hello, there..." he said softly. He could just tell by the look in its eyes that it was not dangerous, and needed help. 

The dirty, wet dog staggered over to him and gently licked the outstretched hand, and at that moment William knew he had to have it.

Sebastian stared at the spectacle with nothing more than complete and utter revulsion. A dog. He hated, no, loathed dogs. Despised them. "You stopped me for this?" he asked in absolute disgust.

William ignored him, since he knew exactly how much Sebastian hated dogs. He'd made that very clear quite recently. Something had taken a bite at the dog, but by the look of it it was an old wound, and if it were from a Reaper, the old dog would have turned by now. Perhaps just another street dog had attacked it...? 

William stroked the canine's matted coat for a minute then turned back to Sebastian. "I want to keep him."

"No." 

The answer was firm and absolute. "No. I'm not bringing that filthy mutt into my house, leaving piss and shit and hair everywhere. I don't have food for a goddamn dog."

William stared hard at him. "Yes," he replied just as resolutely. "I want to keep him, Sebastian. I got shot today in a place you told me was safe...you owe me this."

Sebastian's eye twitched. "No," he repeated stiffly. "That stupid bitch wasn't there last time I was. I'll make them pay for what they did to you. But I don't owe you a dog for it. I am not bringing that thing back."

"Yes," said William again, the dog whining softly. "It would mean a lot to me, Sebastian...."

Sebastian's revulsion towards the animal far outweighed the sympathy he had for William. "You know, I'm sure it would. But it's my house, I'm my own landlord, and I don't allow pets. Not unless you want to freeze a fly and tie a hair-sized leash to it while it's comatose. You have no idea where the thing is been. It's probably not house trained. I hate dogs. It's not coming home, William. If I brought animals home, there would be more cats than you could count, believe me. You have to leave it behind; it's just one more thing to worry about."

William pouted at him unhappily, trying to think of a way to convince Sebastian to let him have the dog, because he honestly hadn't wanted something so strongly in a long time. 

"Sebastian...I will...let you do something to me, in return...just let me have this one..."

The offer was tempting. But Sebastian didn't consider it long, not swayed by William's pout, either. "I'm not giving my food to that thing," he fairly growled. "I'm not a Good Samaritan. I'm not bringing that mangy thing home."

William hesitated, then forced the word out. "Please, Sebastian. I...I'll forgive you for the attempted rape. Totally forgive you. It will be completely in the past."

The raven sneered and turned away, getting back on his bike. "No, it won't. It never works that way," he said quietly. "I'll still hate that fucking dog no matter what and you'll always be afraid of me. Neither of us will win."

William narrowed his eyes at him, and held the injured creature tighter.   
"Then I'm not coming with you," he said defiantly, even though he was aware of what an incredibly stupid decision it was...William had a huge soft spot for dogs, and he couldn't let it die. 

"Jesus, Sebastian...I thought you wanted to better yourself."

A stab to the heart.

Sebastian gripped the handlebars of his motorcycle tightly, hunching his shoulders and gritting his teeth in anger. "There's thousands of other mongrels exactly like that one," he snapped. "What makes it so different? If you want to bring it home, you can carry it yourself, if it's so important to you. But I won't be giving it a crumb of my food."

William grit his teeth as he held the dog even tighter. "Fine. Will you have me walk home, then?" he asked bitterly, straightening up.

"Answer my question and then I'll decide," Sebastian responded just as bitterly. "What makes that fucking dog so special? Convince me and maybe I'll let you bring it home."

William looked down at the speckled dog and swallowed. "It...looks exactly like the one I had when I was a child. My dear father brought it home off the street one day, and we loved it so much. This dog," he murmured, stroking the muddy creature’s ears that were lying flat in misery, "...it needs help. I'm supposed to save lives aren't I? How can I leave it?"

"Human lives," Sebastian muttered, glaring over his shoulder. "What can this dog contribute to society, William? In our situation, we can't even give it the proper care it needs. As it is, we only have enough food for ourselves for a few months. Why do you think I'm constantly bringing some home?"

"What makes a good man is how he treats those who can't do anything for him in return," William told him firmly. "If that's not you, Sebastian," he said, rain pouring off his poncho, "...then just drive off. Go. I can't leave this dog in good conscience."

Sebastian buried his face in one hand. "I don't know how I could possibly emphasize this more," he sighed. "We're in no position to be charitable, Ghandi. The bleeding hearts die in this world, don't you understand?" He turned around in his seat and glared down at William.

"If that was a cat, you could bet your arse I'd be coddling it just the way you are now. But I'd still leave it behind because pets are just too fucking much of a distraction and a waste of resources. I don't know if you noticed, but the world's ended, and if you're going to be a spoiled child about this, I'll pick you up and force you back onto this bike and drive home. Or you can do it the easy way and leave it be just like everyone else does. I don't know how much clearer I can put this. It's not just because I fucking hate dogs, all right? We literally. Cannot. Support anything but ourselves. Why do you think I'm so stingy with our food and power? Because our resources are limited. It's why I refused those kids our food. You're not a kid; I shouldn't have to explain it to you like this."

"I don't ever recall saying it was up for negotiation, Sebastian!" William replied. "I can't exactly run away. If you're going to force me on that bike I can't stop you....but you will regret it if you do."

"You're a bloody idiot," Sebastian hissed. "I can't say I will regret it. I regret what I did to you the other day, but don't you dare use emotional blackmail on me for it. Don't you fucking dare. You damn well did try to negotiate with me. You just SAID it. I'll forgive you for trying to rape me if you let me bring this little puppy dog home, Sebastian. Remember?"

"I'd negotiate what you get in return. What is NOT negotiable is leaving this dog behind. Now fucking make a decision!" William snapped back, losing his patience.

"Fine." Sebastian got up off his bike and stormed over to William, yanking him from the ground and hefting him over his shoulder, carrying him back to the motorcycle. "I shudder to think how you'll make me regret this," he snapped, very much in a foul mood now.

The dog limped after him, and even when they started to drive away, it followed after them. The sight was just heartbreaking and he had to blink back tears as the dog whined miserably. 

"You..." William growled in Sebastian's ear. "You're a monster, and I hate you..."

"It's just a filthy mutt we found on the street and you act like he's the fucking love of your life," Sebastian growled back. "Think what you want and hate me all you want, but that dog, or any other, is never stepping foot in my house."

William fumed the whole way home, though he'd much rather crush Sebastian's balls than fondle them this time. 

When he got home, he locked himself in his room (possible now that he'd finally built a lock), and that was that.

Sebastian left William's things in an unceremonious pile outside of his door -- the hazard suit, the Geiger counter, and the first aid kit. The space heater, he unwrapped from the plastic and kept for himself, plugging it in and sitting before it while he steamed and thought nasty, violent thoughts in William's direction.


	9. Repentance

It was only a week since Sebastian had forced William to abandon the stray, injured creature. William himself was a stray, injured creature, and he thought every day of the poor dog while it was still pouring rain relentlessly. 

Out of desperation for decent company, William had gotten out his radio out and struck up a conversation with one Agni Ghatak. They spoke twice over the last three days, and William had permitted Agni to come over to visit....despite knowing Sebastian might throw a fit. 

William didn't care an ounce of what that filthy rapist thought, in all honesty.

Poor, unsuspecting Agni had absolutely no idea that Sebastian was going to be unaware of the visit. William's directions had been very straightforward and were easily understandable, so Agni drew himself up a map from his base in Whitechapel to Sebastian's hidden bunker in the far northern outskirts of London. 

On foot, it was a day's trek. Agni departed in the morning, and arrived just as evening began to fall. He admired the well-hidden tunnel and bunker, thinking the pair to be very resourceful and cunning to have found and kept a place like this. It was lucky for him that Sebastian was out when Agni arrived, or otherwise the raven might have jumped out of his skin at the knock and gunned down whoever dared try to enter his territory.

The Indian man stood patiently at the large steel doors after he knocked, carrying only a satchel with him.

William had dressed in his nicer clothes, finished with his scientist coat over top. Though that was not intentional; he'd still been working hard on the portal and other devices in the large amount of free time he had. William let Agni in instantly, offering to take his jacket. 

"I'm glad you came, Mr. Ghatak. I was worried you wouldn't be able to find the place. Come in, you must be hungry, and ...I made dinner," he added, adjusting his glasses. "I hope it is to your tastes."

Agni was very pleasantly surprised by all of this, and, slightly flustered, allowed William to take his jacket. "This is very kind of you, Mr. Spears," he replied, smiling warmly. "I'll accept any food you offer. I have no right to be picky in these times."

"Sebastian is out," William told him as they sat down to eat. "Still trying to fix that hole, but the cement won't dry because of the rain. ...I have no sympathy for him, of course." He'd explained to Agni, of course, the reason why he and the convict were fighting. William had prepared a pie as well as he could, and it had turned out well enough. Even Sebastian could have some later on.

Agni nodded with a sad smile in understanding. "Well, it's important to protect your shelter from the Infected -- or the Reapers, as you now call them? You also expressed anxiety over your home flooding due to its underground location, and repairing a hole such as that can help prevent such a tragedy from happening. He's working hard."

He enjoyed William's food very much, and it showed. He continued, "I agree very much that what he's done is terrible. To you, and to that dog. What he did to you can be considered unforgivable, but you're giving him a chance. It's my belief that if you truly believe he has a desire to change...you must give him more time. I can assure you from experience...a person cannot transform their entire outlook on life overnight."

"Oh, that was his chance," said William. "He knew it very well...but he blew it. He lied straight to my face because he believed I'd shoot him...that's all there ever was to it." William swallowed anxiously, sipping from the alcoholic drink he'd prepared for them. "...I need to leave here, and...I really believe my abilities will be better utilized if I work with you and your people. Don't you think so?"

"Did he truly lie, though?" Agni asked him quietly. "Not very much time has passed since then. Consider that he has an entire history behind him, of which you know very little, as I understand it. Perhaps having his life truly threatened shed some light on his philosophies and he truly does wish to change, and regrets what he did to you." He had a solemn, serious expression as he said this.

"I think you would indeed fit very well among the Hand of Kali," he replied in response to William's second statement. "However...I am of the opinion that Mr. Sebastian quite honestly needs you. I find your situation remarkable -- I have heard of him and his reputation, his charges, his many names people whisper so fearfully. He has sinned very heavily. But then...he saved you from a most perilous situation, and even though you discovered quickly your mutual dislike for each other, he has still not abandoned you. It could be very easy for him to. He could very well have left you behind with the dog you wished to save. I must ask you to ask yourself -- why would he do that? Why take you back again and again, and continue to ensure that you stay alive?"

"There was a time I cared about that," William replied shortly, his voice dripping with disinterest, "and now I do not. I only stay here for my portal, but if I take it...and bring it to you, as a gift for letting me join you...imagine what we could do if I got it working. Agni...he does not need me here. Please..." He reached out carefully and took his hand. "Don't leave me here with him."

Agni sympathetically rested his other hand over William's, smiling softly. "I think he does need you," he said quietly. "You two create a delicate balance. You may be his only key to achieving humanity. I believe he allows you here because he feels the need to keep you alive." He sighed softly. "I would absolutely love to accept you into the Hand of Kali. But before I do, I would like you to make a promise to me, Mr. Spears."

"What is that?" William asked eagerly, his fingers gripping the richly complexioned tone of Agni's own. He bit his lip when their eyes connected and it gave him a pleasurable little flutter in his stomach.

Agni gently closed his fingers around William's hand and gave it a little squeeze, smiling softly when their eyes met. "I'd like you to wait one month. One month is all I ask. During that time...I'd like you to try and understand him. Try to know him on a deeper, more personal level before you make any more judgments. I think you are not giving him enough time. If, after one month, you see no changes in him, even small, you are most certainly welcome among the Hand of Kali."

William turned his head away, obviously rather disappointed, and he quietly drew his hand back. "....Alright," he said after a long pause. "A month will be easy enough. Supposing he hasn't raped me by then. But if he screws up even once...well, that doesn't need saying." 

When they were finished dining, they took the bottle of wine and went to William's room. It wasn't a bedroom apart from the fact that it had a bed, and a desk. "You said you wanted to share stories...I could really use that right now..if you are not feeling uncomfortable."

Agni stood by politely, waiting to be told where to sit after he thanked William for the delicious meal. "I am not uncomfortable in the slightest," he replied. "What would you like to speak about?"

William sat on the bed, and he had Agni joined him. It wasn't just that he wasn't aware that it was a subconsciously suggestive move, but he also quite wanted to be close to him. He handed him the wine and almost managed a smile as he removed his coat. "Would you like to tell me your story, leader of the Hand of Kali?"

Agni felt comfortable enough being in such close proximity to William; he liked the other man, finding him intellectual and a pleasant conversationalist. He took the wine and politely took a sip of it, feeling a little surprised that William was so interested in him. "I certainly could," he replied with a smile. "Where would you like me to begin? I have...well, simply put, a rather complicated story."

"I think we all do," said William, "to have survived this long. And I miss being able to talk properly with somebody,  somebody decent and...sophisticated." He glanced away. "I miss that a lot."

The tall Indian man gently rested a hand on William's back in a comforting gesture, giving it a rub. "I understand," he said softly. "Sebastian isn't exactly the picture of elegance, I know. But you are absolutely welcome to talk to me any time you need to. I'm glad we could meet here today as friends, after all."

William flustered ever so faintly when the large, calming hand rested on his back, and he took a sip of the drink, already feeling a pleasant buzz. "I am too," William replied, fixing his glasses. "And whatever you have to say...I'd be quite honored to listen."

"Thank you," Agni murmured humbly. "The same goes for you. I suppose...you may simply ask whatever you wish of me, and I'll answer from there."

"I'd just like to know...where you come from, and...how you ended up as the leader of a militia," William asked. Both he and Sebastian had been curious for quite some time. "I'm sure it's quite a story." He leaned back against the hand a little.

Agni's deft fingers knew how to work knots of tension from a person's muscles, and he did just this for William as he began to speak. "I do think it's an interesting story," he replied. "I was born and raised in Bengal to a very wealthy and influential family, descended from the Brahmin social caste. My name, Ghatak, was a Brahmin name given to matchmakers, a highly prized occupation. You will probably find this very surprising, but...Sebastian reminds me of myself not five years ago. I was very much like him, in almost every way."

William, who had been quite enjoying the massage he was now being given, looked up in abrupt surprise. "Surely not!" he exclaimed. He simply could not fathom the calm, peaceful, dignified Agni acting anything like that mongrel he was forced to stay with.

A good-natured chuckle issued forth from Agni's throat in his deep, rich voice. "I regret to say that it's the truth," he replied, giving William's back a little pat. "I was foul, selfish, and cruel, committing grave sins as he does. I cared for no one but myself. I caused much grief to the people around me, until the time came to face my crimes. They were severe enough that I was to be executed."

The smile on his lips faded to a sadder one, one more painful and forced. "I was so godless and uncaring I didn't care a shred for my fate, William. I put up no fight to the law. And then...the day I was to die, I was saved in the most unexpected way. Something that I believed only happened in fairy tales."

William watched him, watched the alluring way his lips shaped words and his voice made smooth, rich sounds. His heart fluttered just a little. What could have possibly happened?   
"Do go on," he requested, quite intrigued.

"A prince came to my rescue," Agni told him, his expression softening. "The twenty-sixth son of the Raja of Bengal...Soma Asman Kadar." He spoke the prince's name with utmost reverence and love.

"He cut the noose I was to be hanged by and declared I would become a new man, cleansed of all of my sins. The executioners could not defy the prince, and so I was let free and taken under his care. He wanted me as his khansama, his steward, because he had heard of my great strength. That day...something so divine happened to me that I don't believe I could ever describe it in any language. Prince Soma became my God and my savior that day, and I...owe him absolutely everything that I am now. I never left his side after that."

Agni was right, it did sound like a fairy tale story. And it was all too obvious that Agni had loved that man with all his heart. William took a sip of his drink and glanced up at the taller man, looking at his bittersweet smile. "But something happened," he deduced softly.

Agni nodded slowly, his smile wavering, though damned was he if he didn't try to keep it for his Prince's sake. "The Second Wave," he confirmed in a low, thick voice. "The Second Wave took him. My beloved Prince became infected."

"...Oh..." It was all William could say for a brief second. Losing a loved one...it had happened to everyone, but it never stopped being painful. "You have my utmost condolences, Mr. Agni...I cannot imagine..."

Agni shook his head sadly, smiling even through his heartache. "Everyone has suffered from this virus. You have lost, as well, have you not? Please do not pity me, William. It will do no good for those who have passed on."

"You are correct," said William, his sharp brows drawn together. Tipsy now, he leaned against the man's shoulder. "You do not need to speak if it is upsetting you, my friend."

Agni shook his head and gently pulled William closer in a comforting embrace. "I do not believe my heart will ever mend from my Prince's loss. But he asked me to never give up, and to fight, and that is what I do. I stay alive to honor him, and I do everything in my power to destroy the monsters that took him from this world. My colleagues act as if what happened is a taboo subject, and I understand their intentions in their silence...but I prefer to remember my Prince fondly rather than pretend he never existed. That would be far more insulting to his memory, don't you think?"

"Yes," William agreed, responding calmly to Agni's hold, and returning it with warmth he wasn't quite used to. "I hope time will do its part to heal your wounds...being caught in the past is a painful thing..."

Agni nodded. "Thank you. Recovery hasn't been easy, but I've worked hard to get back to work. It's what he wanted of me. Letting grief hold me back is very easy to succumb to, but so far I have done well to avoid it."

William sat with him in a comfortable silence, taking a long sip of his wine to ease what he thought could be nerves. "And you've never been with anybody...since you lost your prince?" He asked, looking up at him from behind his glasses.

"No," Agni replied, sensing William's intentions. "He didn't want me to be alone, but...I have not found another. No one brings light to my life as he did. But he was truly one of a kind, so I have not...been able to."

William nodded slowly, glancing away. "Do you think perhaps...you're holding people to a standard that they just can't meet?" he asked, reaching up and touching his cheek lightly.

Agni smiled wearily. "Perhaps. But you never knew my prince," he replied, resting his hand over William's. "He was everything to me. I have not known another since him."

"I envy you," said William quietly. "For I have never truly known anyone, and that is a terrible sadness in itself. As they say...'It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.'" With this, he leaned in, and made sure the man wasn't going to pull away, before he left a tender kiss on his lips.

Agni was surprised by the kiss, but he accepted it and returned it gently, giving William a grateful smile. "I certainly believe that. I am sorry you have never known love...but please do not lose hope. You may yet find someone, William."

There was something just amazing about the feeling of Agni's beautiful, soft lips kissing his own back, willingly...It was almost impossible to believe. "I do hope so," he replied, and lay back on the bed. He gently tugged Agni's hand, inviting him to lie with him if he wished, but giving him the choice to decline if he wanted to, as well.

Agni chose to recline with him, opting to lie comfortably on his side, not in a completely relaxed position, but a comfortable and open one. "My Prince would not want me to dwell sadly, so I try to think of him fondly and remember the divine light he radiated each day." He smiled apologetically. "Yet I continue to go on about him...you were kind enough to invite me here and give me such a wonderful meal, so I'll do my best to set those thoughts aside and give you my full attention."

William managed a very faint smile at this. "You do not need to feel obliged to give me anything," he replied quietly, touching his cheek. "But anything you offer, I will gladly accept."

The Indian man smiled softly. "I'm afraid I don't have much to offer you. But I hope...it is acceptable." He leaned in and connected their lips with a soft, tender kiss, resting his hand over William's and gently closing his fingers over it.

Yes, yes...being kissed like this, being kissed willingly...it was far better than drunk Dr. Spears could ever have hoped for. He returned this kiss clumsily, though definitely enthusiastically, and draped an arm over the man's side. "Definitely...acceptable," William said lowly, his eyes glinting.

Agni carefully removed William's glasses and set them neatly aside on a nearby shelf so they wouldn't accidentally get crushed. His strong arms enveloped the scientist and he held him closely, affectionately. "You're a good man, William," he murmured softly against William's lips, holding him comfortingly close. "You deserve happiness."

William shivered a little as their bodies pressed together. He leaned up and took his warm lips again, his fingers lightly playing with Agni's peculiarly white hair.

"As do you, my friend," he said gently, his other hand finding the hem of Agni's shirt, and his hands slid up his warm, smooth back, the sensation making him sigh with pleasure.

There was no feral lust or aura of possession from Agni that would certainly have come from Sebastian. He held William protectively, as he was someone precious to guard and honor, and he was. His surprisingly delicate and nimble fingers slipped along William's skin tenderly, massaging and relaxing his muscles to let the other man experience full relaxation and comfort, a feeling of safety. Agni's every movement was a selfless gesture for the poor, battered and emotionally exhausted scientist. 

"You're very kind," he replied gratefully, moving his lips to kiss along William's sharp cheekbones. "Thank you."

William felt very at peace with him. He wasn’t sure if they were going to have sex...that feeling seemed very far away, even as intimate as they were. He carefully rolled on top of him, nestling in his lap, and he knew that all they were doing was giving each other the warmth of human comfort. He raised Agni's shirt gently, exposing a sculpted torso, and ran his hands appreciatively over it, pressing small kisses here and there. And to his considerable surprise, the carpet matched the drapes. How did that even occur?

Faint color rose to Agni's cheeks in a gently shy, bashful move when he saw the curiosity in William's expression. His hands ran through William's hair, ruffling the soft raven locks through his fingers, and simply allowed William to explore as he wished. There was no pressure, just comfort and patience.

Agni smiled humbly and bashfully, running his fingers carefully over William's burn scars. "I take it you're curious about the color of my hair," he murmured lightly, not offended or hurt in the slightest. "Most are."

William shifted slightly when Agni touched him there, naturally it was rather sensitive. "Would you like to tell me?" he asked, continuing to kiss the area until the nipple perked up for him.

Agni gasped very softly at the sensation to his chest, finding it pleasurable. He exhaled slowly, and then nodded in response to William's question. "I have no memory of the weeks that followed my Prince's passing. My friends tell me I locked myself away in deep mourning, inconsolable. I would not eat or drink, so they had to force me to so that I would not waste away. During that time...they told me my hair grew whiter and whiter until it became as snow. I had never thought such a phenomenon possible...but the stress I underwent was so severe it affected me physically to that degree. Where my memories begin again, I thought I resembled an old man."

"You....you really have suffered," William whispered sympathetically, stroking the gentle sidelock, and then his cheek. "If anybody else had told me, I might not have believed it." And god, he wanted to make Agni feel better...help him move on from such a traumatic event. 

Agni pulled William a little closer, holding him tenderly. "It's my past," he said softly. "I must put it behind me and look toward the future. I know it's an unbelievable story...but most occurrences today are, are they not? Still...I feel blessed to have a person like you for a friend. Will you continue keep me company?" he finished softly, resting his hand on William's hip as a gentle hint.

William closed his eyes, biting his lip gently. "I've not...had a man warm my bed before," he murmured, shifting his hips towards him. There was still the pleasant buzz from the alcohol, however, and...he wanted him. "With that said...I would be honored if you were...the first."

Agni gave the other man a warm smile. "Then please...allow me to honor you," he said softly. With that, they finished undressing each other, and they made sweet, gentle love, Agni handling William as tenderly as if he were his precious Prince Soma.

It was everything William had always imagined it would be. There was not that intense lust he felt with Sebastian, no...but this was how he always pictured sex would be, and he let Agni honor every inch of his body, sweet and pure. William was practically glowing when he pulled his clothes back on, despite the fact that his backside hurt again. He'd fantasized about that man leaving over him, whispering things to him in his smooth, calm voice...and it was exactly how he'd envisioned. Perfect.

Agni dressed himself again, feeling better than he had in some time. William was inexperienced, but that was nothing for Agni to worry about. He'd simply guided him through it, gentle and asking softly if this was all right, or did he feel comfortable. He was rather glowing as well, giving William a warm expression. "Thank you," he said softly.

William managed an exhausted little smile for him, he was quite flushed all over at this point. When they finished dressing, William went over and unlocked his door, heading out to get some water.

Sebastian was sitting on the couch with his arms and legs crossed tightly, a positively murderous expression on his face and a similar aura absolutely saturating him. "Have fun, Will?" he asked frigidly through gritted teeth.

William gave Sebastian a passing glance, concealing well the immediate surprise he'd felt upon realizing Sebastian was home, as well as an odd pang of guilt. "...An abundance, actually," he replied lightly.

Sebastian stood up, arms still folded tightly, his face pale with fury. "Even though I've told you how carefully I've kept this place's location a secret? How I don't want people just coming and going as they please?"

Agni paused in the doorway, fully dressed once more, deeply concerned by Sebastian's words and body language. He hadn't been aware that Sebastian didn't want any guests, or even that Sebastian hadn't been aware he was coming.

William narrowed his eyes. "I trust him," he replied coldly. "And I'll do whatever I please, because I don't give a damn what you think. Now please show some respect to our guests...you're being so rude."

"You goddamn fucking treacherous pieceofshitI'llkillyou!!" Sebastian snarled, lunging forward with every intention of snapping William's neck.

Agni dove between them, and, with a few sharp hits, brought Sebastian down, leaving the raven writhing on the floor. He had hit all of Sebastian's weak spots just hard enough to paralyze him, but not kill him. He stood in front of William protectively, keeping his eyes on Sebastian, whose eyes bulged furiously as he thought murderously of Agni and William both.

"If I may be honest, William, that wasn't particularly polite of you, either," Agni said calmly. "It appears there has been a misunderstanding."

William thought it was nice to see Sebastian on the floor, vulnerable, but Agni's words sapped every last ounce of that pleasure away...and a lot of the pleasure he'd taken from what they'd just done together. "...Excuse me?" he echoed stiffly. "...I don't see what I've done that's impolite."

"A blatant disrespect of his privacy," Agni replied simply, glancing up at William with perfect seriousness, but not unkindly. "If you wish him to be more civil to you, you must make an effort, as well. As a guest, I did not know I was unwelcome from him. Antagonizing him, and claiming to not give a damn what he thinks, will not help either of you. I'm not telling you to allow him to walk over you and for you to pander to his every wish, of course, but if you wish him to respect you, you must show him respect, as well. I take it now that he was not aware of this visit before it happened?"

William grit his teeth. "...Alas, he and I are the only ones he would permit to enter this prison. I thought you understood that well. He has lost my respect, my trust....my friendship...Look at him," he whispered. "See the bloodlust in his eyes. What would he have done to me if you were not here? ...Why would I care for the thoughts of a man who would kill me in a heartbeat?"

"He's made it clear that he is upset because I am here," Agni said gently. "I am aware of the bloodlust he exhibits. Please do not forget I know it well because I have felt it as he has." He looked down at Sebastian with pity. "He does have a chance. I cannot explain it to you more simply than I already have -- treat him as you would wish to be treated. A Prince Soma can only exist once in a lifetime, so it will not be so easy for him as it was for me to hold so much respect for another human being, but I would like personal grudges to be put aside and amends to be made. You can never exist in harmony if you cannot do that much."

Sebastian felt very much out of the loop, and it only infuriated him more because he didn't understand what the hell Agni was talking about or what was going on. They'd probably conspired against him, the bastards.

"I do not care to exist in harmony with this man," said William tightly. "You...you cannot leave me here with him, Agni. You know what he'd do to me." There was fear flickering in his chest quite severely, now. He was afraid.

"You made a promise to me, William," Agni said quietly. "Give him one month, and if you do not believe he has become a better person at the end of it, you may come with me to the Hand of Kali."   
He glanced down at Sebastian with perfect serenity. "I will speak to him, and ensure that he will not harm a hair on your head during that time. This is my promise to you, William."

"He doesn't keep promises!" William shouted quite abruptly, his voice wavering. He turned away, stalking over to the wall and sinking down against it, certain that he was going to die.

"I do," Agni replied softly, stepping over to William and gently pulling him close in an embrace. "I absolutely will not let him harm you," he whispered promisingly. "Let me talk to him."

"I'm sorry," William said thickly, his tone becoming much more quiet. "I'm sorry I brought you here. I needed..." He hid his face quickly when tears welled in his eyes; He did not want to weep in front of Agni. He did not want to weep at all.

"Shh..." Agni held him close and rubbed his back. "Please do not be sorry. I am glad I could come see you, and see the situation for myself. I wish to help you, my friend."

William got to his feet slowly, his eyes downcast. "Thankyou," he said under his breath. "I...will be in my room...when you're ready to leave." He touched his shoulder gently then walked off to his room, for some reason feeling so very ashamed of himself.

When Agni tapped on William's door, only about fifteen minutes had passed, and Sebastian was sitting rather meekly on the couch, looking pale. "William?" Agni asked brightly. "Are you all right?"

William looked up at him slowly. "I've, uh...I've been better," he said flatly, not even having the effort to raise an eyebrow at Agni's jovial tone. "How did it go...?"

"It went just fine," Agni replied warmly. "You have nothing to worry about." He set his hands on William's shoulders. "I guarantee that all will be well. Won't it, Sebastian?"

From the couch, Sebastian just shuddered vaguely, looking wide-eyed and tragic.

William peeked out the door just long enough to catch a glimpse of him, then he turned back to Agni. "...What...exactly...did you say to him, may I ask?"

Agni just smiled. "Let's say simply that I am very persuasive," he replied. "And he may exhibit a rather strong fear of nutcrackers and electric blenders, so I would recommend that you avoid them."

"On the contrary," William said under his breath. "If only we had some. Thank you for your help, Agni...and your company. I am curious...where will you go, in the storm, in the night?"

"I was simply planning on returning home," Agni replied. "I have no other business out this way."

"But you said it was a day's walk here," William protested. "It's so dangerous to go, Agni. I am concerned for you."

Agni gave William's shoulders a gentle squeeze. "It is. But I can protect myself, even at night. And I will return any time you need me. However...if it will help soothe you, I will stay here for the remainder of the night."

William glanced away. "It's not that I need soothing," he said quickly, scuffing his foot against the ground. "It's just so dangerous for anybody, no matter how powerful they are. I'd probably sleep better knowing you were here. If it...is not too much trouble, of course...

"Not at all," Agni replied warmly. "Of course, that is if Sebastian doesn't mind, either."

There came a quiet "nope" from the couch, and Agni smiled again. "That settles that, then. In return for your hospitality, please allow me to make you breakfast in the morning."

By the time Agni left the next morning, William  was full of delicious food and feeling a little bit better. Sebastian had been scarce that morning, and William was glad for it.   
It was so quiet when Agni left, though, and William locked himself in his room.

He couldn't help but fear that Sebastian would attack him once they were alone.

Sebastian, however, did no such thing. He was very quiet all that morning and made himself scarce for a while, leaving William to his own devices. It was the early afternoon when he returned, having continued to work on sealing his hidden room with alternating layers of dirt and concrete. When he came back, muddy and sweaty as anything, he knocked quietly, though a little sullenly, on William's door.

A dull shiver went through Williams's body when he heard the knock on the door. He got up, adjusting his glasses, and steeling himself. He walked across the cold floor in his socks and night clothes, having not gotten dressed today. 

To the wooden door, he asked, "...What is it?"

Sebastian sounded as if he was struggling with something, grunting a little in response to a quiet, high-pitched whine. "You, uh. You have another guest," the raven mumbled unenthusiastically.

"I...what?" William murmured, wishing he had a peephole at the door. He made a note to install one. He unlocked the door and opened it ever so slightly. Peeking out, he saw a wet, mud-covered Sebastian, holding an equally wet and muddy dog in his arms. 

The one several days ago...

"....?!"

Sebastian flushed a little and avoided eye contact with William as the dog feebly wagged its tail at the sight of William. "...It must've followed your scent because I certainly didn't go looking for it," he mumbled. "It wandered up while I was mixing cement. I didn't ask it to come over."

William bit his lip, his eyes stinging. "Why...why did you bring it in?" he asked, pushing the door open and taking the dog into his arms like it was the most precious thing he'd ever held.   
"Did Agni m-make you...?"

Sebastian made a face that was an interesting mix of a sneer, a grimace, and appearing ill. "He...suggested it," he said carefully and lightly. "...if I were to...come across this..." He gave the dog an annoyed look. "...this...animal."

William blinked a bit, nodding. He wasn't sure what to make of this...he wished he could truly credit Sebastian for this, but he was clearly making it as clear as he could that he didn't do it out of the kindness of his heart. But at the same time...William hoped that he had. 

"...I...guess I should say thank you," William muttered, the dog wagging his tail happily.   
The happiness in the creatures eyes was completely worth it. 

"...Thank you..."

Sebastian rubbed his arm uncomfortably. "D...don't mention it," he mumbled. "I'm going to shower. When I'm done, you'll probably want to give it one, too."

"Yes, I will," said William. "...For the record...I'm quite adept at training dogs." He didn't want to speak too long, so he did him the favor of at least meeting his eyes before he closed the door.

Sebastian nodded silently and stepped back from the door. He turned on his heel and wandered to the bathroom to hose off, eager to rid himself of the smell of wet dog.

He'd lied, of course. 

He was too proud to admit that, yes, he had gone out of his way to find the dog for William. A starving, wounded animal like that would not have had the energy to track William's scent, and even if it did, they'd left it much too quickly. Sebastian simply went back to the place they'd seen it. It hadn't taken long to find it, since it probably barely had the energy to move. That it was still alive in these conditions was a miracle.

William took a dirty towel and dried the poor dog off. When he heard the shower start, he left his room and headed out to make the dog something that he could eat. It couldn't take too much straight off the bat, but he'd work it back into a healthy eating schedule.

As always, Sebastian took a very fast shower, preserving his heat and water. He'd become very good at scrubbing himself clean in five minutes or less, so he was out and in a clean towel in six. He paused in the bathroom doorway to give the dog a look -- he still hated dogs to the very bottom of his heart, but he supposed he'd have to learn to tolerate this one's presence. 

He sighed and turned away to get dressed. How he wished for a cat...

The dog, to William's surprise, hungrily snapped up whatever he offered, then licked at his fingers for more, whining softly. William scratched its ears,  even managing a little smile, because he knew that he'd found his true friend here. It wasn't the leader of the Kali militia...and it wasn't the resourceful ex-convict. It was this starved, mangy old dog, and he loved it already. He'd have to think of a name. "You'll probably run away when I do this," he murmured to it. "But you need a wash, badly." 

William then picked it up and took it off to the bathroom.

Sebastian held no affection for the animal, but he wanted to at least try and make things up with William. He rummaged around the laboratory and fixed up a dog bed from a cardboard box, an old woolen blanket, and an old, beat-up pillow. It was about one step above from sleeping on the bare concrete floors, but he supposed it suited a dog. He left it by William's door without a word, and wandered over to his maps to begin studying them and updating them.

When William and the dog (who surprisingly hadn't struggled that much) had finished washing, they went back to his bedroom to dress. When the scientist saw the box on the floor, he raised an eyebrow. So...Sebastian really was attempting to fix things up with him. The big question, however, was why? 

William tried to think about Sebastian in a more fond way, but the moment he tried, he remembered the way Sebastian had murderously attacked him yesterday. He shivered, shifted the box into his room, and locked the door again. Forgiveness would not come quite so quickly.

Alas, he could not ignore Sebastian forever. He was getting very hungry himself and it was just about dinnertime anyway. They'd procured some actual lamb meat, and William had been dreaming about it since the moment they got it. It was his favourite protein, closely followed by beef, and a rarity. He'd been worrying that it would go off...it would have been a terrible waste.

So he crept out of his room, the dog having curled up on its bed to sleep in probably the coziest bed it'd ever been in, and William entered the kitchen to start cooking.

Sebastian had his maps spread out on the floor in front of the couch, and he was studying them laboriously, drawing connecting lines, shading in areas to avoid, and scribbling in a symbol over the shopping center that to him, indicated newfound hostile survivors. They would be much more careful next time they went there, if they did.

He heard William come out and rubbed his tired eyes, his vision a little blurry from working up close for so long. He glanced up at the scientist, sitting back on his heels and stretching his back so that his spine cracked audibly. "...Is...the bed alright?" he mumbled.

William spoke to him from the kitchen; it was a little easier that way. "The dog seems to find it satisfactory. He went straight to sleep." Going to the fridge, he got out the meat and set it aside while he prepared a simple side dish.

Sebastian made a small sound of satisfaction, was quiet for a moment, and then spoke again. "And you'll...you'll definitely bring it outside every day?" he asked. "I don't want any accidents in here..."

"Obviously," William droned in return. He found three potatoes, and he washed and peeled them. Next was to cut and season them, which he did with what little seasoning there was to be had, (at least there was garlic, which was an improvement to any meal in his opinion) then put them in a tray in the oven.

The convict began gathering his maps up and putting them back up onto the wall, carefully and neatly, exactly as they'd been before. He sat down at the table, but put his head down rather than sitting cockily at it like he normally would. He peered up at William over the tops of his arms and observed the way he cooked. At first, his instinct was to be angry when he saw that the lamb was being cooked, but then he remembered that it would go bad anyway if held onto much longer, so he supposed, grudgingly, that it was fine. 

He watched William in silence for a while and then asked, "You said...you have experience training dogs?"

"A little," said William absently while he worked. "My father, as a hobby, took strays in. Not just dogs, either. He'd fix them up, house train them, then take them off to a place where they could be adopted, where under normal circumstances nobody would look at them twice. ...Such an admirable man, he was. Anyway...I picked up a few things."

Sebastian watched as vegetables were expertly sliced into perfectly even pieces. There were two completely different questions he wanted to ask now, and he debated on which he would ask first. He settled on what he deemed more important, and said, "So...do you think...you could maybe train one to smell things out? Like a drug-sniffing dog or a bomb-sniffing dog? Not for those reasons, but for...useful things. Food, abandoned supplies, things like that."

William did not want to put his poor dog in danger at all, and he shifted with discomfort at the thought. Nonetheless, he replied, "I suppose the theory is the same. Hypothetically....there's a chance."

Sebastian shifted a little where he sat. "I guess a chance is better than nothing," he remarked simply. "I just feel like...if it's going to live here and use our supplies, it should work a little bit, too. Make it worthwhile for both of us."

"It's only going to be here until the end of the month," said William without looking at him. "I doubt I can teach it in so short a time...but I will make an attempt."

This caught Sebastian by surprise, and he lifted his head up to look at William properly. "The end of the month?" he asked, his surprise evident in his tone. "I was under the impression you wanted it forever."

"I do," said William flatly. "At the end of the month, I'm going to join the Hand of Kali. You are aware of this, Sebastian," he murmured, starting to season the meat now.

"Oh." Sebastian sank down again; he'd forgotten. He was sort of looking forward to it; he'd have peace and quiet again, and not have to worry about babysitting William all the time anymore. "Well, have fun with that, I guess."

William didn't bother responding to him. It had caused a small pang of guilt in his chest...Sebastian had given him the dog, after all, but...one good deed just wasn't enough.

Sebastian was quiet again for a while, shifting his leg back and forth, before he asked, "Should you be standing on your leg like that? It just got shot...do you want me to help you?"

"I'd prefer to keep as much independence as I can," replied William. "I am sure you understand." Both for the fact that Sebastian would do the same thing, and also that William did not want to be weak around him when Sebastian decided to shoot him. 

To William, that had become a matter of when, not if, quite recently.

Sebastian nodded and stood up. "Yeah. I guess I'd probably do the same," he replied, turning away to...he didn't know what -- he didn't have anything to do at the moment. He just felt it would be better to leave William's sight. "Just shout if you need something," he mumbled, heading off to bed to think.

William only called him 45 minutes later, when dinner was ready. It was probably the best thing he'd eaten since the bunker invasion a few months back, with the possible exception of anything Agni had made. Garlicky roast potatoes, beautiful lamb, and vegetables. He was salivating just at the sight of it. 

When he called 'Dinner', the dog came skittering out as fast as it could. William supposed maybe it had owned to someone else, once upon a time.

Sebastian was surprised by how beautiful the meal looked, and how good it smelled, and his eyes widened a little when he saw the table made. "Where did you learn to do this?" he asked as he sat down again.

"Take a guess," William replied, while the dog settled down faithfully at his side.   
He brought out one last plate from the kitchen, which was basically the cutoffs and scraps from what he'd prepared, but very edible for a simple dog.

Sebastian's gaze swept over the meal curiously. "...I guess maybe from being a chemist," he said slowly, "but being a cook is completely different, isn't it?"

"My father," William corrected him simply, handing the plate to the dog before settling in at his own seat, ready to absolutely savor this meal.

The answer surprised Sebastian again, and brought him to the other question he had meant to ask William earlier. "Just who was your father?" he asked as he took his fork into his hand.

What was this conversation Sebastian was attempting to make with him? William frowned a bit suspiciously then began cutting his meat. "A single parent, a soldier, a role model, a humanist...and a very kind-hearted soul," he said a bit nostalgically.

Sebastian cast his gaze down, feeling a bitter sting of jealousy. "Guess that explains why you're so well-adjusted," he murmured, finally having a bite of his food. Next to Agni's cooking, it was the best thing he'd eaten in months.

William made a sound of derision. "Well-adjusted to what, exactly?" he asked, then popped a potato in his mouth, and goddamn it was good.

Sebastian shrugged, having some vegetables. "Life. Humanity, I suppose," he replied quietly. "I wasn't so lucky."

William rolled his eyes, looking away. "Right. Like I could last a minute out there on my own. Like I can do anything without needing to be looked after. I am so very adjusted."

"You know..." Sebastian spoke after a while, "...I'd rather be book-smart like you than a street-smart thug like myself. You're actually capable of making a difference, you know? I'm literally just surviving day to day, and you're...working. Improving life."

"...I fear what sort of changes you would bring to the world if you had the power and intelligence to do so," William said very quietly, and lowered his head to continue eating.

Sebastian glanced out at the lab. "Like the mad scientist who used to live here?" he asked. "Dunno. Maybe I'd go all Walter White and make meth and kill a bunch of people, maybe not. Maybe if I'd actually had a family growing up I wouldn't be such a jack-off."

William blinked for a moment then glanced up, frowning. "Walter White became a meth cook because he had cancer and wanted to leave some money behind for his wife, unborn daughter, and disabled son," he said matter-of-factly. "I don't imagine you to be quite as self-sacrificing."

Sebastian leaned back in his seat, poking at his food. "The way I was raised, probably not," he replied. "But still...they say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

"That's bullshit," said William dismissively, and went back to eating. He made sure the dog was eating, which it was, and they sat for a few minutes in silence before he spoke again. "I agree that if you did have a family...you would be a better person. My father was the best father in the world...I wish you had somebody like him to raise you right."

Sebastian thought William sounded like a spoiled rich brat. My father. He exhaled sharply through his nose. "Oh, I 'had' one, if you could call it that. An alcoholic mother who couldn't stand me and flat-out told me the only reason she gave birth to me was because she couldn't afford an abortion. No father in the picture. A grandmother who told me every day what a disappointing piece of shit I was and how I ruined my mother's life. A retired soldier of a grandfather who was the only halfway decent man I knew but still drank like a fish until his liver gave out."

"Tragic," said William monotonously, already tiring of conversation with him. Still, some part of him didn't want to imagine what a miserable childhood that would have been.   
Inwardly he felt sorry for him.

William's apparent lack of sympathy over Sebastian revealing what kind of childhood he'd had was, and his clear boredom by it, made the raven want to flip the table right over. He gritted his teeth and stood up, roughly pushing his chair in, and pulled his favorite jacket on. "You know what, I'm not very hungry after all. Give your mutt my leftovers," he muttered as he left in a hurry and slammed the door behind him.

William rested his head in his hand for a few minutes, feeling quite a bit of guilt, but his blunt reaction was only in response to Sebastian's disdain when he'd spoken about his own father. But...staying apart from Sebastian was the best way to deal with this situation. As soon as the month was over, William would leave, and go to stay with Agni, who was much, much nicer. No use in getting attached to the man.


	10. Vodka from a lab flask

**Vodka From a Lab Flask**

Sebastian was out for a few hours and didn't come back until well after it had gotten dark. He'd gone trading to get his mind off of things, and came back with a backpack full of canned food and fresh bread -- an apology from the trader whose girlfriend had shot William. Sebastian was pleased to hear she'd since been broken up with and kicked out of the community for breaking their protocol.

He was significantly calmer when he came back through the heavy doors, pulling the heavy bag of food from his back, heaving a sigh. It was close to midnight by now, he was sure.

William, once he'd finished dinner, had gone straight to bed. There had been a dilemma with his new dog: It seemed to have quite an issue with being alone in the dark. Against his better judgement, William left the door slightly ajar so a dim light could enter the room. Then the dog was happy, and they both went straight to sleep. 

William's sleep was not peaceful, however, because tonight he had one of the worst night terrors he'd had in a long time. His whimpering and moaning had roused the dog, and when he began crying out, even screaming, his companion hopped up on the bed, barking at him to try and wake him up, becoming more panicked as William failed to rouse.

Sebastian heard the screaming about half a minute after he came back. Alarmed, certain that there was an intruder in the lab, he bolted to William's room with a handgun in one hand and a crowbar in the other. He expected the door to be shut and locked, so when he seized the handle, he ended up pulling the door off of one of its hinges in his haste to reach William. When he saw no one but William and the dog, he quickly lowered his weapons, clicking the gun back to safety and setting it back into its holster.

"William. William!" He stepped in and began shaking William's shoulder roughly to try and wake him.

William struck Sebastian quite hard in his panic, his eyes snapping wide open as he belted the man across the cheek. 

"Who's--there--?!" he gasped, fumbling for his glasses.

"Gaah, fuck -- " Sebastian cursed, putting a hand to his stinging cheek, eyes prickling from the pain. He stepped back to avoid any further blows, rubbing the impact point. "It's me, you id -- it's just me," he growled, trying to refrain from insulting him. "You were having a nightmare..."

William failed to locate his glasses, and so overcome with panic, he drew his knees to his chest quickly, clutching the sheets and struggling to even breathe. As usual, he was drenched in sweat and trembling like a leaf.

Sebastian hesitated, not exactly wanting to get slapped again, but he crawled forward and rested his hands on William's shoulders, giving him a squeeze. "Hey. Hey, come on," he whispered urgently. "You're going to pass out. Come on, work with me. Try and breathe for me, alright? Take a deep breath."

Just a nightmare....it was just a nightmare. 

William nodded slowly, then glanced to his left-- "Oh, what's that?!"

It was just the dog, and he realized he was clutching Sebastian's arm, so he let go. His companion whined and got on the bed again, since Sebastian had sort of shoved him off. "Oh...god, okay...."

Sebastian was breathing a little shakily in response to William's panic, but he managed to even it out. "Better?" he breathed, looking into William's eyes.

William nodded very slowly, resting a hand against his chest and feeling his racing heart. He drew the dog into his arms, and it licked his cheek gently. "I'm alright..." He began searching for his glasses once more. "...I didn't mean to disturb you."

Sebastian shook his head. "Just got back," he muttered. "Jesus, but the way you were screaming, I thought you were being murdered. Must've been a hell of a dream...sure you're alright?"

Screaming? "Shit..." William replaced his glasses and rubbed at his eyes, before he began to peel off his sweat-soaked shirt. "Ooh.." He winced as he looked down at the large burn scars marring his flesh-- they were bleeding, so William supposed he'd been scratching at them again to get the fire out. "I'll be alright..."

Sebastian's eyes widened at the damage, and he swore under his breath. "Let me take care of that," he offered. "Run it under cold water and clean it up. It doesn't look good..."

"I'll take care of-of it myself," William mumbled, easing himself out of the bed. "It's nothing, really, anyway. I've done this a few times before."

"You've done it before?" Sebastian echoed in alarm, standing up to allow William room to leave. "That's not good either, I'll tell you that. I still think you should let me clean it up...it's harder to dress your own wounds."

That much was true, and William just wanted to go back to sleep and forget about it. Something told him he wouldn't be sleeping again tonight, though. "If you're going to insist upon it..." he murmured, walking into the bathroom.

Sebastian wasn't pleased with the worried animal darting around their heels, whining for William, but they maneuvered around the dog and made it to the bathroom. Sebastian turned the tub faucet on, running it on cold and soaking a clean rag with it. "Yeah, I'm going to," he replied. "Your fingernails are all bloody, too. You should file them down so you don't do as much damage if this happens again."

William glanced down at his nails and made a rather disgusted sound. He always kept his nails in perfect condition, and to see them like this was a near-physical pain. "I will," he muttered. "Definitely."

Sebastian took William's hands much more gently than he normally would have and began wiping the blood away with the rag, making sure it got down into the cuticles, as well. "Does this...happen often?" he asked carefully, not wanting to set William off again.

"No," William replied. "Thankfully. This is only the..." He paused, counting up the times in his head, "sixth time this has ever happened, in my whole life."

"Only the sixth," Sebastian murmured sarcastically as he used the other side of the rag to clean up the wound itself. "Well thank god it doesn't happen all the time."

"You're telling me," said William flatly, glancing away, and trying not to flinch as Sebastian cleaned up the wound. 

"...While I'm stuck here, er...I figured I should apologize about what I said earlier."

Sebastian glanced up at him as he took the dreaded emergency first aid kit out from a cupboard. "And what was that?" he asked. He knew what William meant, but just really wanted to hear him say it, though honestly he was surprised William was apologizing. They were both very proud men and apologies didn't come easy.

William's sweat was cooling quickly, and in the cold bathroom he was beginning to shiver and get goosebumps. "About your upbringing," he muttered, avoiding his eyes and petting the dog at his side rather deliberately.

Sebastian took out the cotton balls and hydrogen peroxide again, exhaling slowly. He pondered for a while before he spoke, trying to decide how to reply, even though he'd expected the topic. "Normally, I don't give a shit what people think of me. But when I got dismissed by you like that...I cared because it was you. It's...I don't know why. Obviously, we don't like each other. I guess I was really stung because I finally told you something about myself and you just...tossed it aside."

"Yes, I know that," William replied impatiently. "I'm not an idiot. But...trying to tell me about yourself right now....it's what people would call 'Too little, too late.'"

Sebastian's shoulders sank a little as he sanitized the wounds, frowning and knitting his brow. "I suppose so. I don't know why I bothered," he said quietly. "Just forget I said anything."

William closed his eyes a bit, wishing Sebastian would hurry up with the bandages. "...Believe me...more than anything...I would have liked us to be able to get along. That is the truth."

Sebastian sensed William's impatience and hurried up, though not wanting to botch his job. "Yeah, well...you can't have everything," he murmured as he applied the gauze and bandages once more.

William shook his head. "Alright, then." He got up, and trudged back to his bedroom. ...It would have been if Sebastian just left him alone. He didn't need this.

Sebastian remained in the bathroom once William had gone, sitting on the tile floor and leaning against the wall. The more he thought about it, the more he actually disliked the idea of William leaving. Even if it meant the dog staying. A feeling of resentment toward Agni stabbed through his heart, even though their trades with him had been beneficial. He was jealous, and upset; two emotions he had no idea how to deal with.

A few weeks passed in a similarly awkward fashion for the two men. 

William largely kept to himself, writing up instructions for Sebastian in case the stove died again, or how to recharge the new generator batteries he'd installed; general things to help the man survive when William left. He also packed his few things into a box and his backpack. 

Agni had called William once a week to talk, and assured him his dog would be well cared for at their base, as well as reassuring him of all the benefits he'd have, staying with the Hand of Kali, while similarly questioning if Sebastian was showing any improvement. 

William thought he'd been acting differently, and strangely to say the least, but they never talked much...William kept largely to himself, and if Sebastian did speak, it was mostly a one sided conversation. 

With William staying inside, there was no way Sebastian could dramatically save his life again and regain William's affection. To the scientist, it was all just a very awkward waiting period.

The closer the end of the month drew, the more frequently Sebastian drank. He didn't like the little reminders William left around at all -- he'd rather sit and observe William fixing things himself, watching the way his brow furrowed in concentration. Every day he found himself regretting and hating himself with increasing weight, knowing he only had himself to blame.

It was plain and simple. He didn't want William to go, and he was the reason William was leaving. He'd even tolerate that goddamned dog, which really honestly wasn't as horrible as Sebastian had expected it to be. It was polite and well-behaved for a dog, and didn't leave messes, and generally remained at William's side. He'd wouldn't say he felt affectionate towards it, but for William's sake, he procured a bag of dog food for the animal while he was out trading, so it would have something to eat that had been designed with canine health in mind. 

The raven disliked even more the fact that the scientist kept to himself more than ever. His attempts at conversation all failed, whether he was just trying to get to know him, or even to break the terrible silences. Eventually, though, he'd given up and resorted to drinking to deal with the sadness he was so unaccustomed to, and the loneliness he was dreading. The night before William was to leave, he planned to drink himself into complete, blissful unconsciousness. Maybe that way he could wake up hungover and too ill to drive William anywhere, and give them just a little more time. Maybe, possibly, just one small shred of hope.

William came to put his plate in the sink, since he'd eaten in his room that night, as he now did most nights. At the counter, however, he saw something that surprised him. Someone he'd hoped to avoid again. There sat Sebastian with a laboratory flask in one hand, and it was tipped to his lips. 

A clear liquid was trickling down his throat. 

William's eyes widened in alarm. "Hey-- What are you doing?!" he cried, hurrying over to him, fearing the worst for a split second. 

Luckily, all it was was vodka, and Sebastian was rat-arsed drunk on it; it stank in the flask and it stank on his breath, and he looked up at William with reddened eyes, swaying a little. "'s vodkaaaaaa," he slurred, putting the flask down a little roughly, with a sharp crack. The liquid inside began leaking out through the crack he'd made, and he frowned down at it like he'd only found a spot on the glass. Inwardly, though, he was pleased that William seemed to give a little bit of a fuck about him. It was better than no fucks at all. He raised the dripping flask again and held it out to William. "Wan' some...?"

Of course it was, thought William with a sigh. The bottle was less than a foot away. He let out a sigh of relief, rubbing his eyes. "...No, thank you..." He put his plate in the sink, muttering under his breath, "Drinking out of flasks...how terribly unsanitary.."

Sebastian had never been so terribly drunk in front of William before, and had every doubt in his mind of the possibility of him looking like a complete idiot. In his eyes, he was stone cold sober, suave and classy as ever. And then, with a little, drunken cry, he toppled off of the stool he'd been perched on, landing on the concrete floor with a heavy, dull thump. He rolled onto his stomach, wincing. "’S not...not that bad," he murmured. "I cleaned it...I cleaned it first. Y'like clean, it's fine..."

"Jesus..." William shook his head, taking the vodka bottle from him. "Go to bed, you fool. Stop drinking."

Sebastian shook his head slowly, managing to sit up if he leaned heavily against the counter. "No...no, unless...unless I keep drinking...I'll have to...I'll have to take you away tomorrow," he muttered, eyes suddenly watering up. "If...if I'm hungover...I can't drive...and I'll get to stay with you...just a little longer..."

"I don't..." William frowned a little at Sebastian's words. "...I don't need you to drive me anywhere. I'm getting picked up. They have an armored vehicle. Come on, you can't drown yourself in vodka. You need your inhibitions in top condition. Go to bed, Sebastian," he urged.

"Can't you...stay with me just a little more?" the drunken man asked, slipping down the counter again. His head was spinning from the heavy amount of alcohol he'd already had, and he was pawing at the top of the counter for the bottle, not realizing William had it. "I d-don't...want you to go..."

William blinked at him, putting the bottle up high. "You are a truly sad individual," he said sympathetically, and started to pick him up. "I'm taking you to bed now." He lifted him up, feeling a twinge in his nearly healed leg, and proceeded to carry him away. "You need a good sleep, and...tomorrow, everything will be back to normal. No more prissy scientist, no more mutt, no more sharing." He dumped him down on his bed as gently as he could.

Sebastian was too drunk to physically protest, but he kept shaking his head, tears starting to fall now. "N-no...normal's not good, it's not...I w-want...I want you to stay," he choked, trying to focus on William's face. "Even the dog. But you...I want...I want to share with you. Please don't...d-don't go..." He kept trying to sit up, but his head felt like it had been filled with lead, and he couldn't keep it up. His limbs felt disconnected from his brain and he couldn't move them the way he wanted them to move. "Please..."

William sat by him, against his better judgement. "Are you crying...?" he asked in a low voice, clearing Sebastian's fringe from his face. "Sebastian....I can't. You know I can't."

Sebastian felt very much like a little boy again, especially when he whispered back, "I tried. I tried to be better for you. I don't want to be alone. I-it's not fair." He sniffled heavily, trying to wipe his eyes, but only succeeding in smacking his hand onto his own face. "Why'd Agni -- why'd he have to come and take you away?" he mumbled through his tears, trying again to focus on William's face. "You're the only person I've ever had. Only...only one who ever gave a half a damn about me...I d-don't...want you to go..."

William swallowed, biting his lip. God, he really wanted him to stay...it was unbelievable. 

"Goddamn it....then why'd you wait until now to say so?!" William asked in frustration. "All month you've just been rambling to me about this and that and getting angry when I refuse to talk to you. I told-- I told you it was too late," he whispered, attempting to wipe away Sebastian's tears.

Sebastian sniffed again, ashamed of his own tears, too immobilized to protest William's touches. "I've been trying," he whispered. "Trying to just...talk and get to know you better. But you...didn't want to, so I gave up. I'm so sorry. I wanted to -- to even try...and make things up with you. B-but...I guess...I really was too late." His face crumpled and more tears fell, and he shakily raised his hands to hide his face.

William teared up instinctively. "...I know. I can see that you're sorry. Drunk talk is sober thoughts. But...it's...it's more than that. I don't want to have to fear for my life every time I make you angry." He patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.

Sebastian turned his face away to further hide his face, though he didn't shy away from William's touch. "I know I've got a temper. I've been...I've been horrible to you," he whispered. "'n I'm so sorry. It's...why I go out every time I get angry, now. I try to go cool off so I don't try to hurt you again. I don't want to hurt you, or anything else. From the time I found you...I knew you're someone I have to protect."

"Other people are going to protect me now," said William a bit halfheartedly. "I...I know you're upset...it's not like we will never see each other again. I get that you're lonely, but someone like you could find nicer company easily. You won't miss me long."

Sebastian scrunched one of his hands up into his long hair, clenching it tightly in frustration. "No one else I know would stay with me, not in their right mind," he choked. "I've never wanted anyone around me before and everyone knows it. With my reputation, I don't blame them, either. I'm a monster, a demon, you said it yourself. I must deserve to be alone, in the end, anyway. That must be it."

William closed his eyes. 

"I...suppose I was hard on you about the dog. I believe, and have believed for a while now, that you can still change into something good. It's just that...when Agni comes here tomorrow...he will ask me one last time if I believe you can change...and if I say yes, he won't let me go with him anym-more.."

Sebastian peered up at William through his parted fingers and hair, feeling even more hurt than before. So he'd been lying to Agni all this time...and he'd lie once more just to get away from the demon. "It's not fair," he whispered again, curling his fingers up into a fist, even though he knew perfectly well that it was perfectly fair. "W-why does it...have to be him?"

William looked down. "He is kind to me," he whispered. "He has not betrayed me, and he fights for a noble cause..." He squeezed Sebastian's shoulder lightly. "I'm...damn it....I'm so torn."

Drunkenly, Sebastian groped around until he found William's hand and squeezed it in return. "But I'm fighting for that, too," he muttered in a brittle tone. "I'm killing all those reapers...because they're why everything's so unsafe. If there's less of 'em...we can start rebuilding, can't we?"

"You said you were just surviving," William said quietly. He sighed, sitting on the bed with him. "What...oh, god...what happens if I give you another chance?" he asked, knowing in his heart that leaving him now would just be impossible.

Sebastian managed to wipe his tears away again, though he really didn't have much hope at all for the situation; all he heard in William's voice was fear and doubt. "I'd try even harder'n before," he mumbled, squeezing William's hand tight. "Only an idiot'd waste one more chance..."

"Fuck...." William's eyes were prickling, and he wiped them slowly. "Fuck it...alright," he whispered, bowing his head. "Alright. I'll stay. One more chance...that's it, I swear." 

Because if Sebastian betrayed his trust again, ever lay a hand on him again...William would kill him.

Sebastian wasn't sure if he'd heard William correctly. He lifted his head up, though with a little bit of difficulty, and stared at him uncertainly. "Y-you'll...stay?" he whispered tremulously.

William hesitated before responding, because he was giving up so much for this fucking miserable convict. But he managed to keep his resolve long enough to whisper, "Yes...so, I h-hope that you are happy now..."

Sebastian tried to lean forward, but due to his unsteadiness, ended up lurching and scrambling for purchase on William's shoulders so he wouldn't fall. He gripped them tightly and pulled himself up, hugging William tightly in the way he only had once before, exhaling shakily with relief. "T-thank you...thank you," he whispered, shutting his eyes to keep the tears in.

The embrace made it a bit easier to accept the choice William had just made. He took Sebastian in his arms and held him close, stroking his hair lightly. Sebastian was...cute, when he was so drunk and distraught like this. And he'd missed having someone to hold in his arms.

Sebastian quieted down after that, but he didn't release his grip, sure he'd topple over again if he didn't. His head felt very heavy, and everything was still spinning. "How can I...how c'n I thank you..." he mumbled, trying to breathe steadily again.

William looked down. There was plenty Sebastian could do, but right now, William could only ask one thing of him. 

"Will you...kiss me...you bastard?" He heard himself murmur, lightly brushing their noses together. Sebastian probably wouldn't remember this tomorrow, anyway.

Sebastian started to lean in, mumbling drunkenly back, "Is that a trick question?" even as their lips drew closer together.

"We both know you want to," said William, adjusting his glasses a bit nervously. "The question is, will you?" His gaze drifted down over Sebastian's tearstained face to his rosy lips, lips that were almost feminine for a man. William found them attractive.

"If it's definitely...okay with you," Sebastian murmured huskily, finally closing the distance between their mouths and taking those soft, warm lips into his own once more. There was lust, yes, but not nearly as much as the first time they had done this -- more drunkenness, so he was clumsy and sloppy with it, but his intention was genuine.

"Nh...yes..." William breathed this soft little groan of pleasure against Sebastian's wet lips. William held it, just as clumsy as Sebastian was, and moved in closer. He settled down beside him and entwined their legs while they kissed. "I am more okay with this than you would think."

Sebastian slipped his arms down around William's waist, holding him chest-to-chest, never wanting to let him go again. He kissed William more and more passionately, working his way to his neck to kiss his Adam's apple briefly before wandering back up to his jaw and lips again. "I never...thought you'd...ever say that...to me..." he murmured between kisses.

"Yes, well...I had my hesitations, when it came to forming an intimate relationship with you. I won't sleep without a gun, now...but as long as I am definitely okay with it...o-oh...being stuck with you mightn't be so bad..."

William tilted his head upwards, his thigh sliding back and forth between Sebastian's legs, rubbing him playfully.

Sebastian's breath hitched, and he leaned his head back, hips squirming delightedly. "H-hnnn...I'll...work hard...for you..." he moaned softly, "so you don't...feel unsafe...anymore..."

William kissed him again, a pleasurable sigh escaping from his lips. "M-mh...I'd like that. Yes.." He brought his hand down now, repeating the same movement he did with his thigh against Sebastian's groin. It was nice and warm to the touch. "Make me feel safe."

Sebastian's breath hitched again, and he shut his eyes, pulling William closer. He pushed his hips against William's hand, rubbing pleasurably, and began to return the intimacy by clumsily slipping his hands up under William's shirt. "Then...tell me...what to do," he breathed, cheeks flushed with arousal and the alcohol.

William moaned a little bit when Sebastian's hands slid over his nipples. He'd found that they were a bit sore, of late, and he missed the way people could touch them. They were such an erogenous zone for him. "M-mh. Just...keep going...I like this..."

With a little bit of drunken difficulty, Sebastian rolled them onto their sides so that it was easier for him to move. It took a hell of a lot of effort to get his floppy limbs to obey him, but they eventually did, his hard work paying off. He pushed William's shirt up over his shoulders and pulled it off over his head, eagerly lavishing the scientist's chest with licks, kisses, and nips, focusing on the sensitive, pert nipples when he discovered William's responses to them. He pushed their hips together again, grinding as he mouthed William's chest, quickly growing more aroused. "Mm...like...this...?"

William paused before breathing a small little 'Y-yes.' He pressed his head to Sebastian's   shoulder, withdrawing his hands to caress Sebastian's body. His hips took their place and rolled needily against Sebastian's own, discovering a hardness there that he was quickly beginning to match. 

A pleasant shiver went down his spine as he kissed at Sebastian's neck, then he tugged his shirt off too while gyrating against his clothed member.

A very pleasant sort of pit formed in Sebastian's lower belly, the beginning coils of intense arousal. His throat felt tighter, as did his trousers, and his numb, tingling fingers wrestled with the button and zipper of his jeans to make things a little more comfortable. William was inexperienced, but oh, he was a wonderfully fast learner. Sebastian adored the body next to him, happy to rediscover it, especially in a much more comfortable setting. Even if he was almost too drunk for this.

His lips sucked sharply at one of William's nipples before he returned to William's mouth, kissing him deeply and passionately. His hands moved up to William's chest to continue rubbing and pinching there, not about to leave it alone.

"Ah-!" William's eyes slid downwards when Sebastian unzipped his fly, and his hand crept inside to grip the warm erection. His cock leapt in excitement, and he nipped a little at Sebastian's lip in response. 

"Are we...a-are we going to have sex?" he whispered, grinding against him hungrily. William's skin had become covered in a lovely flush, and he was already panting softly.

Sebastian's honest-to-God instinct was to just ravage William without any questions or answers, and he nearly did, but he managed to hit his mental breaks and process what William had asked, and follow through with his promise. "If you wanna," he breathed, pushing flush against him, hip to hip, stomach to stomach, chest to chest. He was groping William's warm erection with relish, feeling his member up and rediscovering it. "What do you think?" he murmured, toying one of his fingers around the foreskin.

William rolled against him,his hand catching in Sebastian's hair and tugging gently. "I think...I think I'm ready," he replied, removing his glasses and placing them aside. "Oh, god, Sebastian...do that thing...that you did with your fingers...Oh, I liked that.." He paused to wiggle out of his trousers so he could spread his legs a little.

Sebastian gladly worked one hand around to William's backside, tracing his fingers between his glutes to seek out his entrance. "Oh...I can do even more," he murmured promisingly, already pushing a finger inside William, wiggling it gently in.

William gasped aloud, biting at Sebastian's shoulder. "Oh, fuck," he mewled, writhing against him. That hot lust was back, the kind he hadn't felt with Agni, and certainly not with any woman. While Sebastian toyed with him, William's hand circled the man's cock and began to stroke him slowly. "Got...lubricant...?"

"Yes, sir," Sebastian purred into William's ear, grinning with anticipation now, heart fluttering eagerly in his chest. "I stockpile...all the important stuff~"

Hearing William mewl like that was a damn good turn-on, and it was encouraging. His breathing grew heavier and he moaned softly as he was stroked, and in return, he pushed his finger completely inside the other man, slowly pushing it in and out, and twirling it around the tight passage.

William clawed gently at him, nipping repeatedly at his shoulder. "Then...get it," he ordered quietly, feeling quite an urgency running through him, impatience he'd never felt in this situation before.

Reluctantly, Sebastian let go of William's arousal and withdrew his finger. He tumbled off the bed, intending to walk to his nearby wardrobe, but could barely manage a crawl. Even if his hands still had coordination, his limbs seemed not to. He laughed weakly, finding the humor in his situation, laughing at his own pathetic state, and flopped over to the wardrobe like a fish out of water. He reached it, opened the doors, and managed to rummage through one of the drawers inside it, removing a half-used bottle of lube from it. 

While there, he got the brilliant idea to undress and tease William. He thought he was being really quite sexy and smooth about it, slowly pulling the rest of his clothes off, but in reality, he just looked like the intoxicated slob he was being, struggling with his threads. Still, he lay on the floor, his shirt open and trousers unzipped, bulging visibly, cheeks flushed and eyes heavily lidded from his intense arousal. His chest heaved with his heavy breaths as he lowered his trousers and underwear, only managing to get it them down to his knees before he realized he’d hit the current limit of his mobility. 

He collapsed onto his back, stretching his handsome torso out and displaying it before William, and then shut his eyes and clumsily buried his face into his arms, trying to muffle his drunken laughter. "Little...a little help, please?" he gasped breathlessly as he attempted to get up and perform a sort of mermaid crawl back to the bed, weakly holding up the bottle of lube to William. "Oh, it’s spinning..."

William propped himself up on the bed, watching Sebastian attempt undress himself. He took the opportunity to discard his own trousers, revealing his handsome nude body, marred only by the considerable scarring down his left side. He moaned displeasedly, knowing Sebastian was going to tease him, but he took the lube and helped haul him back up onto the bed. "Honestly..."

Sebastian gave him an utterly shitfaced grin, appreciating his nudity as well. He clambered up and towered over William, tracing his fingers down the center of William's torso and going right back to kissing his neck. "Ohh? There’s a handsome man in my bed," he mumbled between kisses. "When did he get there?"

"Wow..." William shook his head a little, but he felt another shiver of excitement as Sebastian loomed over him and his own body was engulfed in shadow. "You...mmh..." He rested his fingers against his own cock, so desperate for more attention.

Sebastian reached down to stroke William at once, crawling back a little, and then flopping down onto his stomach, resting his head between William’s thighs. He wondered if William had ever gotten a blowjob before. "I what?" he murmured, toying his fingers around William's glans and settling between the scientist's legs, lips near the head of his cock.

"Nothing," William muttered, then drew breath sharply when Sebastian settled his lips down against his tip. "Oh...you won't...hurt me again?" he asked, just to make sure. Having Sebastian's nails scrape the length of his erection was a pain that couldn't be described in words.

Sebastian teased the glans with the very tip of his tongue using a gentle fluttering movement, slowly shifting his gaze up to William's face and meeting his eyes. "No," he murmured with a faint smile, resting his lips against William's cock and his hands on William’s thighs. "Not unless you ask me to."

William gave a simple nod to allow the man to proceed as he wished. He watched Sebastian cautiously; this wasn't the first time someone had put their tongue to his cock, but it was the first time it'd given him pleasure, and it surprised him.

Sebastian leaned in and slowly began pushing William's member into his mouth, dragging his tongue all around the skin wherever he could reach, and sucking powerfully to bring him pleasure. He bobbed his head forward, swallowing William's cock inch by inch, skillfully working him past his gag reflex, fingers gently squeezing the other man's testicles. It took him no time at all to swallow him to the hilt, and he drew back almost completely before swallowing him up again, moaning softly. William's cock was damn good -- he hated it if it was too big, but William's was just right to satisfy his oral fixation.

William rolled back and forth as Sebastian enveloped his cock. The sensation was deliciously warm and wet, and the scientist's moans only grew louder and louder. Amazing...Sebastian could take the whole thing down his throat. And the way he moaned sent exciting little vibrations along his member. 

But this...right now...it wasn't what William truly desired. He let Sebastian satiate his oral fixation for a few minutes, himself growing harder and a little too close for comfort before he pulled back with a barely audible whine. He wanted to be fucked, and fucked hard. 

"Come on...d-don't make me wait any longer," he whispered, laying back and parting his legs even further. "Just...c...come on..." Taking hold of the lubricant, he took the liberty to smear a fair amount of the cool substance over his entrance, and he watched Sebastian the whole time, knowing the sight would entice him.

Sebastian was very enticed by the sight, and he gave William's cock one last lick before positioning himself better to fuck William, placing his hands on either side of William’s chest to steady himself at first. He pushed his slick fingers to William's entrance again, intending to truly, properly stretch him before penetrating him. "Believe me...I don't want to wait any longer, either," he murmured, pushing two fingers inside him and scissoring them. His member trembled with anticipation to the point that it hurt. It would be more than worth the wait.

William lay back on the bed, his eyes closed tightly, and he whimpered as he felt the sensation. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, he felt Sebastian's cock press against his backside, and he gasped a little. Finally, finally. Immediately he tilted his hips upward, biting his lip both in embarrassment and desire.

Sebastian coated his member with plenty of lube before pushing himself into William's tight heat, and claiming him as his own at last. He gripped William's hips tightly for balance, and groaned with pure lust as the tightness enveloped him. His heart leaped and began to race even faster than before, that pit in his lower stomach flopping delightfully. "Oh...god..." he moaned, instinctively digging his nails into William's skin.

William couldn't even express his impatience at this point besides an irritated groan. He wanted to get past the part where it hurt like all hell, and get to the part where he was practically screaming with pleasure. He began to move himself back and forth, not bothering to wait until he got used to the sensation, because to someone as inexperienced as him, how could it feel normal?

Being inside him by itself was phenomenal, but when William took the initiative and began moving, it was just mind-blowingly amazing. Eagerly, Sebastian hitched William up into his lap, spreading his legs as far as they were able, and began thrusting into him at a fast, strong pace.

William closed his eyes tighter as they both began to move in unison. Just-- almost-- there it was! That beautiful point where the pain began to fade and the pleasure began. He almost smiled a little, his tapered fingers clenching tightly in the sheets. Sebastian was a powerful lover, and the way that hot, thick cock slammed into him made his mind go numb. "A-ah-- yes-- like that," he breathed, his hips rolling fluidly while skin ploughed against skin.

Sebastian knew very well how to stimulate an entire body during sex, and he had every intention of arousing William beyond any level the scientist thought possible. He leaned forward to shift his balance, taking William's nipples between his fingers, twisting and squeezing them to a different pace than his thrusts. He shifted William's hips up higher to adjust their angle and more easily reach his prostate, breathing raggedly from his exertion.

William's pants quickly turned to astounded mewls and moans, coming out in tones varying from a low sultriness, to a high little quiver. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself now that Sebastian was bringing pleasure to nearly every part of his body. 

Each squeeze to his pert nipples sent a wave of pleasure through his body, and just when he thought it couldn't possibly get any better, there.   Sebastian hit that special spot inside him that made him jerk in surprised arousal. "Oh, yes..! Again!"

Sebastian lifted William's legs so they were perched on the raven's shoulders, and lavished them with nips and licks wherever he knew the skin was sensitive, thrusting harder and faster inside him. His fingers pinched harder as his muscles all tightened and intensified in his focus to just fuck the man underneath him, make him scream and moan his name. He slammed into William's sweet spot again and again, rapidly approaching climax. "Oh -- nnn...fuuuuuck...~"

Well, this was....new. That was William's first thought when his legs were lifted onto Sebastian's shoulders, but he loved it all the same. "Ooohh, fuck--! S, um...Sebastian..." To his knowledge you generally informed the other person when you were going to hit climax, though it seemed embarrassing. "I'm-- n-nearly there--!" 

Each time Sebastian struck him in the right spot, it was like a giant light turned on inside him, bright and warm. And it was only getting brighter. The coil within him grew tighter in turn, and William writhed in the sheets, tugging them sharply because it just felt so damn good.   
"S--Sebastian!!"   It happened suddenly, the pure, blissful relief he'd been so desperate for. He made a sound he didn't even know he could make at that point. "O-oh, godddd," he moaned when he finally spilt his seed over his stomach.

Sebastian followed right after him when that already-tight passage tightened even more around him in the most goddamned perfect squeeze he'd ever felt. The tension in his own belly finally released, and he cried out hoarsely as he came heavily inside him, emptying his seed. His whole body flushed with wonderful heat at the orgasm, and he moaned William's name as he shakily pulled out. He breathed as hard as if he'd run for miles, his pulse pounding through his entire body, and he gazed dumbly down at the beautiful man beneath him as he slowly floated down from the high of his orgasm.

William stared lazily at Sebastian for a few moments, and in those few moments, he felt sound in his decision to stay with Sebastian just a bit longer. It sounded stupid, but he was sure he felt some sort of connection, in that moment. 

Of course, there wasn't much time to dwell on it, because he promptly dropped off to sleep in Sebastian's bed.

Sebastian felt the connection too, undefinable but keenly felt, something that had never happened to him after sex before. When William broke it and dropped off to sleep, Sebastian decided that that sounded like a wonderful idea and collapsed beside him, their hot, naked, sweat and cum-slick bodies entwined. The raven was asleep in seconds, dropping off into blissful unconsciousness.


	11. Intruder

**Intruder**

The next morning, the familiar sound of rain could be very faintly heard, accompanied by thunder. Another storm...it always seemed to be raining these days, and William's paranoia about the flooding resurfaced slowly.

Little did he know that the flooding was actually the least of their worries. 

William got up, sore as he usually was after such intimacy, and he picked up a towel off the floor to wrap around his waist. He planned on grabbing a shower, then calling Agni to tell him the change of plans.

When Sebastian woke up, he had one of the worst hangovers of his life. He didn't even open his eyes, knowing even the dim light would make his eyes feel like they were being stabbed repeatedly, and if he sat up, nausea would just knock him back down. Even laying down, his head was spinning and his stomach churned, and he didn't remember the events of the night before. As far as he was concerned, he'd only drunk himself to oblivion and passed out. Better to just lay down and wait for the worst to pass before he even tried to get up for some coffee and aspirin.

Then, with gut-wrenching suddenness, he remembered that today was the day William was going to leave. He had no idea how long he'd been asleep, and he gasped sharply, bolting upright in bed. The combination of opening his eyes and sitting up attacked him as painfully as if he'd run headlong into a brick wall, and he clutched his powerfully protesting stomach as he dizzily lurched out of bed in a tangle of sheets. Had William already left? Had he gone without even saying goodbye? His head swam back and forth as he stumbled along to the door, and he quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, fighting the nausea back desperately when his stomach gave another horrible lurch.

"Will -- " he moaned weakly through his hand, staggering over to the door and frantically attempting to unlock it. Another potent, sickening wave of nausea crashed over him, and he half fell over in his frenzied attempts. "D-don't go -- wait for mmmmmm -- !!" 

He lost the internal battle and doubled over with a retch, being violently sick onto the door and concrete with an awful spatter. He coughed and spat a little bit, trying to remove the taste, and wiped his mouth onto his hand and went back to trying to unlock the door. He pushed it open and stared out into the tunnel, heart racing and sinking horribly. "N-no..."

It was at this point that William hurried out from the bathroom in just a towel when he'd heard the sound of vomiting. 

"Sebastian, if you were going to be sick," he said a little guiltily, "you could have done it in the sink..." He saw the man standing in the front doorway, staring at him. "...Christ...are you alright?" he asked quietly, maintaining his position, just in case.

Sebastian gasped sharply, jumping a little, and snapped his head in William's direction, staring at him disbelievingly. He was pale as a sheet, both from his hangover and from his fright, and subconsciously rubbed his stomach, which felt better now that he'd thrown up. "Y...you're still here?" he asked weakly. He turned and spat again, and now his throat hurt. He wiped his mouth again and glanced back at William, half-expecting him to have disappeared. But no -- by some miracle, he was still there. "I thought..."

William frowned at him, resting his hands on his hips. "Typical...you've forgotten completely, haven't you. Sit your arse down at the table. There's some water and aspirin there. I'll clean all this up."

Still too nauseous to even want to argue, Sebastian tottered uneasily to the table, plopping down in the chair and putting his head down. "...Christ, my head..." he breathed miserably. "I...forgot what...?"

William glared at him in irritation. "I'm staying, dunce. For now. Also, we fucked." With that, he strode off and got dressed, then came back to clean up the mess at the front door. The tunnel was leaking a little again, by the looks of things.

Sebastian lifted his head and actually blushed. They'd fucked? Goddamn it, he was sure he'd remember something like that. Last night was just such an embarrassing blur of drinking and crying, and nothing else. Trying too hard to remember just made his head hurt, so he'd definitely have to take William's word for it. "...Oh."

William just rolled his eyes at Sebastian's response. He'd expected this, after all, though some part of him hoped that the convict might remember it. By the time he was finished cleaning, he was absolutely starving, and quickly went to make a meager breakfast before attempting to get on the radio with Agni. 

However, his attempts at patching in to Agni's frequency had been quite unsuccessful, William assumed it was because of the storm outside, and being underground, reception was poor at best. 

"It seems we may be needing to take a trip out, today," he said unhappily. "Provided you still wish for me not to go with Agni."

Sebastian nodded quickly, now downing his coffee and waiting for the aspirin to kick in. "Yeah," he murmured, glancing up at William. "And I'm...Jesus, I'm sorry I can't remember. I must have been so shitfaced last night. All I remember is a whole lot of drinking and...and uh, crying..."

"Yes," William confirmed bluntly. "Cried like a baby, to be honest. You were completely plastered." He shrugged lightly. "You don't want Agni and several others to turn up in that vehicle right at the front door, am I not correct? So I'll need you to get your clothes on, and we need to go out as soon as possible. I do not know when he intended on coming."

Sebastian winced a little when he learned exactly how much he'd cried. "Just don't tell him -- or anyone, actually -- that I cried, all right?" he murmured, draining the last of his coffee and standing up carefully. He smiled weakly. "Y'know I've got a reputation to protect if anyone'll take me seriously."

"It didn't cross my mind," said William, though that was a lie. He probably would have otherwise told Agni, as a testament to how serious Sebastian was about William staying. "Go on, move it, already," he said for the third time, then left to go and prepare. He wasn't really afraid of going outside anymore...that was a desired improvement.

Sebastian still had to clear out his head a little bit, so he drank quite a bit of water to try and flush out his system. Although he wasn't nearly as nauseous anymore, and he could at least walk, he still had a splitting, pounding migraine and hoped it wouldn't inhibit his driving. In any case, it was better to drive hungover than to drive drunk.

He took a fast shower as always before pulling his clothes on, putting on a heavy, warm undershirt under his button-up and bomber jacket. He glanced up at William as he laced his boots. "Was I...?" he asked hesitantly. "Did I...you...consented, right?" he finished, having the distinct feeling William was angry with him but being passive about it.

"I would not be here if I didn't, said William, from where he was waiting by the motorcycle in his warmest clothes, his poncho, and his gas mask. He was currently cleaning his Magnum revolver; he liked it because it was much more powerful than your average handgun, which meant it took less shots to kill things.

Sebastian let out a small sigh of relief, zipping up his jacket and arming himself, as well. It made more sense now that he’d heard William say it. Of course he wouldn't still be here if Sebastian had forced himself onto him. "I guess you wouldn't," he murmured, joining his side. "...Thanks for cleaning up after me," he added sheepishly, feeling embarrassed. It was the first time in a while he hadn't made it to the sink or the toilet.

"Yes, well," said William, moving to adjust his glasses but remembering it was impossible with the mask on. "You've done the same for me, before." He recalled unhappily the time that he'd woken up from a nightmare and promptly vomited on the floor...and then the time he'd had a fever and vomited not just on the floor, but all over himself too. 

"Don't mention it."

Sebastian pulled his mask on and pushed open the heavy door. He performed his routine check on his motorcycle to make sure he had everything -- shotgun, full tank, rope, Bungee cords, emergency meal replacement bars, water -- his essentials for going out. "Alright, let's get out of here. What's taking you so long?" he asked, teasing him good-naturedly as he climbed onto the bike.

William scoffed in response and promptly climbed on with him, wrapping his arms around Sebastian-- an act that now felt rather comfortable. He did wonder how long it would take for Sebastian to lose his temper, though, and ruin that comfort. 

A loud crack of thunder startled him for a second, but he played it off as a small cough when he gasped. 

"Let's go."

Sebastian gave the leaking ceiling a concerned glance before he sped off -- he'd have to fix that when they got back. It was odd to him; he knew how old the bunker was and he didn't think it should have been leaking. Perhaps William's anxieties over a flood weren't so irrational, after all...

William was still in quite a hurry, so he ushered Sebastian off quickly. Upon reaching the surface world, they were soaked in hard, cold sheets of rain, and William held tight to the man in front of him to keep warm.

Visibility was low, so Sebastian had to drive slower than usual, which irritated him; he did love to ride fast. The rain was absolutely relentless, turning the forty minute drive to Canary Wharf into a miserable eighty minute drive, leaving them shivering and numb with cold. It wasn't much of an improvement, standing out there, but it was better than nothing. Sebastian held an umbrella over William to protect the radio equipment as they brought it out, struggling with it against the wind.

William struggled with the precarious winds, crouching under the umbrella and calling to Agni on the radio. There was a crackled response, and William made a sound of irritation when he learned that connection was still just as crappy out here. 

After ten minutes, he finally managed to get through to the Indian man.

"Agni-- Mr. Ghatak, is that you?"

Voice garbled through the poor connection, Agni replied. "Yes, Mr. Spears, it's me," he responded. "I apologize if I cannot hear you; our connection is exceptionally poor today. We were just about to leave to come get you."

"Yes, about that," said William, raising his voice to be heard over the wind and the sound of the rain hitting the umbrella. "I have decided to stay with Sebastian. Do NOT come to get me, I am staying with Sebastian, do you copy?"

There was heavy static for a few seconds, and Agni's voice returned, some parts of his speech missing. " -- staying -- Sebastian? You've -- r mind?" he asked, sounding as pleasant as ever.

"I am staying," William repeated again. "Do you copy that?" fidgeting a bit with anxiety that he might lose the connection at any moment.

"Copy," Agni confirmed. "When -- weather's not so poor, we -- speak about it -- meet again." 

Sebastian strained to hear over the static, but felt he got the gist of what Agni was saying. "Damn bloody storm," he muttered, determinedly protecting the precious radio from the torrents ofwater.

"Thank you," said William with a little sigh of relief. "Take care, my good friend."   And that was that. William glanced up at the main shielding him from the rain and nodded his head lightly. "...I suppose it's official, now." He picked the radio up and joined Sebastian under the umbrella.

Sebastian heaved an enormous sigh, gripping the umbrella tightly. "I guess so. It looks like we caught him just in time," he murmured, making sure William was shielded from the rain once the radio was put back away.

"Good," said William, zipping his bag back up and straightening. "...Heh. You know, holding this umbrella out like you are, one could almost mistake you for a gentleman." The corner of his lips tilted upwards just a bit.

Sebastian scowled a little comically, glancing away. "That's a laugh," he murmured. "Me, a gentleman...maybe in another universe."

"Luckily, I would never mistake you as such." He touched the man's waist lightly and smirked a bit more.

Sebastian smirked back and returned the touch, adding a teasing push. "Tsk...not in a million years," he replied. "I don't think I'd mind talking like a gentleman, though. Maybe I could fool a few people."

William reached up and pushed Sebastian's fringe out of his eyes. "Hm, not in those clothes," he replied, his hand slipping around to touch the man's backside gently. "Come on. I hate being out here..let's get back and get dry."

Sebastian exhaled sharply through his nose in exhaustion. "Another hour-plus in the freezing rain after coming all this way out here for just five minutes. I can't wait," he sighed, ushering William along back to the motorcycle. "What I would give for some hot coffee right now..."

"Shut up. Unless you wanted them showing up at your front door, it was necessary," William muttered as he got back on with him, and without any further delay, they sped off back to the lab. As they passed, stormwater flowed through the drains. The Thames was looking dangerously high. Rats ran through the streets to avoid drowning, and thunder still boomed overhead.

"We could have just turned them away," Sebastian pointed out during their ride, grinning cheekily. "Ohhh, about that...William is going to stay after all. You can go back home, now."

However, his snark and grin faded when he noticed everything William did, and he frowned just a little worriedly at the water level in the Thames. The rats were fleeing in droves, and normally he didn't see any signs of them out in broad daylight. He was definitely going to make sure the drains were clear when they got back, so they wouldn't get trapped underwater and drown.

"Yes, said William, "but then his sneaky sidekicks will permanently know where it is that you live, and while I'm staying here, I'm not comfortable with that." 

Upon getting down to the tunnel, the dripping had only increased, leaking through cracks in the concrete. William's paranoia only increased.

"Yeahh, no, I don't want anyone else knowing where I live," Sebastian returned, eyeing the cracks with worry. "I trust you and Agni. No one else. ...Fuck, I hope all this water is just from how much is up there and not because any cracks might have gotten bigger," he muttered. He was so damn cold now he couldn't feel his fingers, and now all of the coffee and water he'd had before they left had gone through his system, and he was dying for a piss. He squirmed ever so slightly where he sat.

Even as they passed, William saw a very small hole in the wall, where a leak had sprung, and water was pattering against the ground. It probably wasn't the only one. "I'm going to make a blueprint of this place," he said uneasily, instinctively tightening his grip around the man. "And I'll do my best to reinforce it as well as I can."

Sebastian nodded. "I'll do all the labor for it," he replied. "Your leg's still probably hurting a lot, isn't it?" He felt William's grip tightening and it pushed gently against his bladder. It became uncomfortable, but he didn't want to say anything about it.

"No, it's mostly better now," William murmured, sighing a bit. "I guess it wasn't as bad a wound as it first seemed. I'm healing well." He liked the idea of them working as a team like that, though. The brains and the brawn working to stay alive.

"That's good. You're lucky it only grazed you," Sebastian told him, feeling a little relief once his doors were in sight. "I don't know if I told you, by the way, but the traders kicked her out. No one's ever open fired on another trader like that before. She'll have to find some other community, so you don't need to worry next time we're out that way."

"Oh, my...so it seems I was just incredibly unlucky?" William asked a bit flatly. They finally pulled up in front of the door, and William's feet landed in a puddle of water from a drip right above them. He didn't even notice that the door was ajar when he took the handle and opened it up. It didn't even register with him that it was unlocked.

Sebastian was preoccupied with the drips and didn't realize that the door was open, either. He shut down his bike and climbed off, stepping in with William, shivering a little. "Man, I'm just dying for a hot shower and a drink," he muttered, trying to rub his numb hands together.

William took his mask off. "Go on," he murmured. "Enjoy yourself--" The first sound he heard was that of his nameless dog growling and barking, then a whimper followed by a thud. 

"...Hey--" William's hand shot to the gun in his holster. "The door was unlocked!" 

Sebastian's heart stopped in his chest at the realization, and his hand flew to his thigh holster, as well. "Not just unlocked," he said hoarsely, heart racing now, as if to make up for stopping. "Open." The goddamn door locked automatically whenever it was shut, which mean it had never been closed in the nearly three hours they'd been gone. Had he really been so stupid? Hungover, certainly -- one slip up, and there was someone in here. "Hey, asshole, you have about two seconds to come out and explain why you're trespassing in my bunker!" he called, gripping his gun tightly, creeping forward with it.

The door had locked behind them with a small beep. William was feeling very high strung, and even worse when he hurried around the corner and found his poor dog lying injured on the ground. 

There was nobody in the room. 

"Who the fuck just beats a poor dog like this," William uttered, his grip tightening on the .365 Magnum. When he found that person, he'd blow their fucking head off. 

A shadow seemed to move nearby and William shot around, looking for the culprit. "You're trapped in here; you might as well show yourself!"

Sebastian swallowed nervously and licked his lips, stepping quietly now. Whoever came in had hidden themselves well. He turned his head toward the bathroom and saw the light on underneath the door, which he was sure he had not left before their departure. 

He stepped silently to the bathroom door readying his gun, and then kicked the ajar door in with a tremendous clatter. He opened his mouth to curse the intruder out, but all that came out was a tiny, frightened "...oh."

Pawing through the medicine cabinet was the single largest Reaper he had ever seen -- tall and bulky, and with a marked intelligence in its citrus-green eyes that none of the others had ever displayed. It stared him down, motionlessly, and Sebastian stood in the doorway, paralyzed with fear. His full bladder decided then to empty itself, and his trousers grew warm and damp, his face pale as a sheet.

William took a few steps towards Sebastian, obviously very startled when the man just wet himself for no seemingly good reason. "Sebas--" He too froze right up, his eyes wide. The creature turned to face them, clacking insect-like mandibles at them, and baring horrific claws. It shrieked at them, and William yanked Sebastian out of the way just in time to shoot wildly at the creature. 

"Oh, fuck!! What the FUCK is that!?" he cried. "Run, run, Sebastian!" 

It was not stopped by the high-calibre bullets, and that definitely worried William.

Getting yanked aside was enough to shake Sebastian back into reality, and he stumbled back, looking extremely ill. "Run where?!" he snapped, finally getting the sense to try shooting at the monster, as well. "This is my goddamn house; we've got nowhere else to go!!"

William realized dreadfully that it was they who were trapped, not the intruder. Even though his bullets hit the creature, it didn't slow down, and they only barely escaped its razor-sharp claws by hurling themselves around corners. 

"Can you distract it while I try to unlock the front door?!" he cried.

Sebastian groped for his crowbar the second he was near it; it was clear that the bullets were completely ineffective. "You don't even know the fucking code for my door!" he shouted back, swinging the sharpened crowbar at the creature's arms. "How about we switch that around -- " he gasped and ducked when the monster swung back, and tried jamming the crowbar into its abdomen. " -- and you distract it?!"

William was practically running for his life, and he managed to gasp out, "Because you're fucking faste--" A heavy, strong arm struck him hard in the stomach, and he was sent flying, the wind knocked out of him. 

William couldn't be sure, but it was almost like this thing enjoyed the game of cat and mouse.   
The feeling was enhanced when he watched the immense thing drive its mutilated claw right into the door lock, and it broke with a spark. They were locked inside. 

William just gazed up in horror. It knew. It seemed to understand them. 

"O-oh, god.."

"Shit -- " Sebastian came up behind the monster and began slugging at it with the crowbar with all of his strength, not caring where it hit. "C-can't you -- throw acid or something on it?!" he gasped, frightened for their lives. No matter what he did, the monster didn't stop or even slow, but it didn't prevent him from trying. "Anything -- "

William lay there, frozen in fear. It was incredibly intelligent, and it was going to kill them. He hated that, for all his own intelligence, it went right out the door when he was in danger. 

For once, though, the answer did come to him: "The device!" he cried, not using its actual name. "We have to use the device!"

Breathing hard from fighting against the beast's monstrous strength, Sebastian glanced over at him, confused by his vagueness. "The what -- ?" he panted, before following William's gaze over to the portal. "Is it safe?!"

"I haven't tested it," William cried. "But it's operational! It's our best hope!" While Sebastian had it occupied, William ran over to his workbench and grabbed a beaker of hydrochloric acid. He hurled it at the monster, right at its eyes, and miraculously he managed to get it right on target, blinding it temporarily, hopefully permanently. 

With a tiny bit of time gained, he ran for the portal and began to power it up.

Sebastian doubled his efforts in fighting the creature, and managed to embed his crowbar in the thing's tough skin. He wrenched it out, now having a weak spot to aim for again. "Hurry it up, Four-Eyes, I can't keep this up for long!" he shouted.

The portal had a bit of a warm up time, and William was antsy as hell. "Get it in the back of the head," he cried while he ran to grab another gun, and then pick up his poor injured dog and press him into his backpack, heavy as the creature was.

Sebastian was wearing down, and even though he had embedded knives into the back of the mutated(? hell if he knew; he just needed to kill it) Reaper's head, it didn't seem to mind much. Still, he went ballistic with the crowbar, slamming it down repeatedly, smashing the creature's teeth and fingers with it. None of his usual weak spots were working, and he would have pissed himself again if he'd had anything left.

There was a small ding, and then William was looking at it: A beautiful silent blue portal, turning gently, illuminating the room in a calming glow. "It works," he gasped, like he was witnessing a child come into the world. The creature roared suddenly, snapping him back to his senses. 

"Sebastian, RUN! Go through, quick!" he cried, grabbing a molotov cocktail from his pack, followed by a lighter. "GO!"

Sebastian got backhanded by the creature while he was distracted, and he saw stars. He staggered for a second, spitting out blood and a molar that had gotten dislodged, and then uneasily bolted over to the portal, dashing through it without a second thought. The only thing that occurred to him was that it felt warm, and pleasant, when he ran through.

The creature sensed Sebastian disappear, and then it rounded on William. The scientist suppressed a whimper and lit the rag in the molotov, then hurled it at the staggering creature. It didn't stop, even as it lit up in flames, and it was at that point that he felt his own trousers grow a little damp. Numbly, he thought that it was good Sebastian wasn't there to see it. 

The Reaper's mandibles snapped inches from his face, and those immense claws came straight for his throat. William rolled at the last second and absolutely pelted for the portal, which was already closing, since the program had a ten second wait after the first organism had been detected before it would shut itself down. 

William only just made it through, and he collapsed onto a cold, smooth floor. The room was very dark, and he couldn't see. His dog whined pitifully. 

Sebastian was lying on the floor nearby, breathing heavily, clutching the stitches in his stomach. He glanced up in time to watch William come barreling through, silhouetted by the gentle blue light of the portal before it faded and left them in darkness. 

"Are we...alive?" he asked uncertainly, trembling from head to foot.

William felt a hot tongue lick his cheek, followed by doggy breath. "Think so," he panted, reloading his gun while he still had the time. They seemed to be in a locked room, completely dark, there was not even light from under the door. He slipped his bag off and lay against the floor, breathing hard. "Are you badly injured?"

Sebastian shook his head automatically before he remembered it was dark and William couldn't see him. "I don't think so...that...that thing just hit me really hard, and I..." he raised his hand to poke at the tender wound, and flinched. It was warm and wet -- "I guess I'm bleeding."

William dug a torch out of his backpack and shone it at Sebastian. "A-Alright...as soon as we catch our breath and find a way out, I'll...I'll fix you up...I'm not really injured, myself. Just a few scratches. It's the dog I'm worried about."

"Of course you're worried about the dog," Sebastian muttered, trying to feel around and gain his bearings. All he could feel was cardboard boxes, so they must have landed in someone's storage room. "I'm more worried about what that monster was..."

William lay back to catch his breath. "I'm just...glad to be alive," he whispered, staring into the darkness and feeling an odd kind of happiness. "Ah...aha...oh, and you wet yourself...after all the grief you gave me...you hypocrite."

Sebastian's face flushed completely crimson and heat up significantly. "Shut up!" he snapped. "You probably would've pissed yourself too if you'd had as much coffee and water as I had and then seen that thing in your bathroom!"

William smirked, biting his lip a little. "You ever chastise me again, and I'll never let you live it down." He crawled over to him, and touched his shoulder affectionately. "Still..I'm glad you're not dead."

Sebastian sighed with a smile, and turned toward the touch in the dark. "I'm glad you're not, either," he murmured. "I'd've been utterly fucked if you hadn't been there. That's twice you've saved my skin, now."

"Come on," said William, "I want to find out where the hell we are." He gave his hand a tiny squeeze then stood, using his torch. He helped his dog back into his backpack, which he was very grateful to have, and cocked his gun as he searched for the door.


	12. Not Very Hospitable

Sebastian was still breathing a little heavily, but he stood up with William. Once he straightened up, he bumped into one of the cardboard boxes that he couldn't see, and it toppled to the ground with a loud clatter, its contents spilling out.

"Shiiit -- " Sebastian hissed, wincing as something rolled along the floor and then spiraled once it fell on its side. There were sounds from outside of the room, now, and he froze, heart racing again.

William backed up against the wall, praying the dog would stay quiet. A light went on outside, showing beneath the door, and shapes could be seen moving. 

"What do we do?" William whispered. "S-Sebastian?"

"Stand our ground, I guess," Sebastian whispered a little nervously, standing protectively before the scientist. 

The lock clacked as it was unlocked, and the door opened with a creak. A young man tentatively poked his head inside and looked around, shining a torch around the dark room. He had medium-length, wavy blond hair and thick, black glasses frames perched on his nose. When he shone the light on Sebastian and William, he jumped a little. "...Oh!"

A second head appeared, of slightly longer blonde hair, contrasted by brunet cornrows on the left side. This man was taller, wore blue-tinted glasses, and had a little stubble on his chin.   
"Who goes there?" this man demanded in a strong voice, with a noticeable Scottish inflection. 

"Uh, don't shoot us," William said in a wavering tone. "We mean you no harm."

Sebastian lowered his gun and raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. "We, uh...just mostly want to know where we are?" he added in as friendly and nonthreatening of a tone he could muster. 

The first man glanced up at the second, looking wary. "...How did you even get into a locked room and not know where you are?" he asked a little dubiously once he looked back at the strangers. "Oh -- are you injured?" he asked suddenly, eyes widening a little. "Your head is bleeding," he said a little unnecessarily, pointing to Sebastian.

William stepped into the light, lowering his gun. "We came through the portal," he said, carefully gesturing behind him to the large device. "We were being pursued by Reapers. Infected. And we have no idea where we are...what country is this?" 

"Yer in Fair England 'erself," replied the taller man, and William looked ever so slightly disappointed. 

"Oh."

The first man became alarmed, however. "Chased by Infected? Is that how you got injured. Cripes, we need to make sure those aren't bites!!" he gasped, clapping a hand over his mouth. "Eric -- "

Eric raised his gun and cocked it. "Sounds awry t'me...I say we play it safe. You two...come out into the light. Slowly. An' put yer guns on the floor."

Not at all wanting to get shot, Sebastian obeyed and set his gun down, keeping his hands up. "Tell me we're at least out of London," Sebastian said calmly, watching Eric hopefully.

The first man shook his head. "Royal London 'Ospital, I'm afraid. And sorry to tell you this, but if you're infected with bites, we're going to have to shoot you dead, right here. We're under strict quarantine, you know? Nothing personal...it's just that we're kind of...well...a hospital..."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" William cried in open dismay. "No! No! Of all the places in the world, all the possible destinations, and it had to be bloody London..." He gazed up, scrubbing at his eyes. "And we're not fucking bitten!"

"London's not that bad," the first man muttered a little despondently, checking William over for wounds. "It's manky and a little gloomy, but it was nice before the Waves. Relax, mate, you seem fine."

"No....No," William uttered, completely devastated. He put his gun down limply and bowed his head. 

"You havin' a cry there, mate?" asked the one named Eric as he checked over Sebastian. "Ron, let's get 'em down to the clinic...they look exhausted."

The younger one, Ron, nodded, and gave William's arm a gentle tug. "Hey, hey," he said softly. "You're fine, you're definitely safe here now. Let's have a doctor come look at you, yeah? And if you don't mind telling me why London's making you so upset...? I'm a...well, student psychologist, but I can help you out."

William shook his head, trudging along with the other men. "Just...this fucking place...I just wanted to get out of the city so badly...this awful, rainy, rat-infested dump...." He bit back a sob, clenching his fists.

Ron nodded sympathetically. "Yeah...I understand. It gets agitating, stuck in one city all the time." He gently patted William's back, and Sebastian looked on a little helplessly, having no idea how to calm William down. "Well...you came in through the portal, right?" Ron added. "No one here even knows how to use it, but I guess you do! You can probably find all sorts of other places with it. I know England's not the only one. There's supposed to be one in New York, and another in Rome. Those are the only ones I know of, but...at least they're out of the country?"

"You wanna give this lad a lil' sedative," said Eric as he lead them into the clinic. "I don' wanna see 'im throw a tantrum 'n shoot somebody. Let 'im calm down, aye?' 

William watched them miserably as he was ushered over to an examination bed. He took his dog out of the backpack. "W-well, b-before you drug me, j-just promise you'll try to help my dog."

"Oh..!" Ron gladly took the dog into his arms and rubbed behind its ears. "I'm not a vet, but I'll do my best. I have basic nurse's training, too... Poor thing...what's happened to him?"

"The monster Reaper we ran from, that's what," Sebastian said bitterly, annoyed to find another dog lover.

"Aww..lookit the wee lil' thing..." Eric gravitated towards the canine as well, scratching his ear gently. 

"He was trying to fight it off," said William fondly, and the dog gave a gentle 'ruff', his tail slowly beginning to wag. Still, though...London.   
William then groaned and flopped back on the nice and surprisingly clean sheets. "Fuck." 

Eric took the liberty of sedating William, just in case, and while William was on the way out, he heard a distinctly Irish voice sing out, "S'that a dog I 'ear?"

Sebastian leaned heavily against a nearby wall, deliberately thumping his forehead against it. I'm surrounded by dog-loving idiots. There is no God, he thought sourly. 

"Hey, stop that! You're getting blood on the wall!" Ron chastised Sebastian, pulling him away. "That's unsanitary, that is. Micah, c'mere, there's a li'l dog someone brought!"

"Dog dog dog dog~" 

William had never seen someone so cheery since before the First Wave, but unless his eyes deceived him, he was seeing a short, youthful, and redheaded young man bounce into the room and come to fawn over his pet. 

"What'sis name?~" 

"He doesn't...have a name," William whispered, closing his eyes and feeling his body go limp. "Not yet." 

"Lookit our handsome new visitors," said Eric. "Said they came through a portal."

"Handsome is right," Ron agreed, nodding in approval. "I'm already liking Mr. Drugged Up on the table, there~ Hey, we don't know your names, either, actually. I guess not, seeing we met five minutes ago." He looked between Sebastian and William expectantly. 

Sebastian took a seat beside William and exhaled slowly, feeling exhausted by the amount of people already. "You'd probably not want to know my name," he muttered. "Surely we'll get kicked out..."

"We don't turn away people unless they pose a threat to us," said Eric as William finally passed out on the table. He began peeling off the man's clothes. The redhead put on a pair of surgical gloves to start treating. Clearly he was one of the few here with medical experience. "Ronnie, you wanna take care of the dog?" 

Eric turned to Sebastian, looking at the state of him. "You, er...wanna get undressed, put on something, well, dryer?"

Sebastian gave him a little bit of a look. "Well, most people find my name alone to be a threat, but I'll tell you what. Promise you won't kick me out, and I get to stay here with William. He won't mind you knowing his name; he's just a chemist," he replied as he began to strip. Ronald subtly watched, his gaze not exactly a professional one.

"Yeah, I'll take care of the dog," the young psych replied. "I'll even help think of a name for him."

"William," echoed Eric. "...Hmmh. Seems like a real smart guy. He 'n my Al would get along real well." He sighed a bit then removed William's shirt. "Yeech...Those're some nasty scars, they are," commented Micah, upon seeing William's burn wounds. 

"Okay," said Eric. "Tell us your name, lad, then get on one of the beds. I think we should sedate you, too."

"I don't know how he got burned," Sebastian told Micah. "He had those when I met him..." he turned his attention to Eric, then. "And why do I have to be sedated too? I'm perfectly calm..."

"Precaution," said Eric, taking a glance at Sebastian's manacles. "Also, it's easier to perform any necessary minor surgeries. Take yer shoes off. And don't forget that name."

Sebastian sighed irritably, figuring his manacles would have given him away sooner or later, anyway. "Sebastian. Sebastian Michaelis," he replied as he began to unlace his boots.

Ronald, a few beds away with the dog, dropped what he was doing and rushed back over, looking not frightened, but extremely excited, flushed like a little boy. "Nooooo. The Sebastian Michaelis?! Malphas, The Black Plague?! That one?!"

Sebastian leaned back away from him, slightly unnerved by the young man's enthusiasm. "...Yes. You are aware I'm a -- " 

" -- serial killer!" Ronald exclaimed, eyes shining. "I always think what a fascinating mental case you must be! They say you're the most notorious in England since Jack the Ripper! Oh! I've just got to interview you, and write so many papers -- !!" he gushed, looking very much like a little boy who had just been told Christmas had come early.

Sebastian was going to say "convicted felon" to finish his sentence, but supposed the straightforwardness worked, as well.

"...Ron, you're embarassin' us," Eric muttered. "Cool yer heels." Upon learning that they now had a serial killer in their midst, Eric wasted no time in shooting Sebastian up with the sedative. "Jesus christ. I don't...I dunno if I feel safe havin' him around here...around Al...he's also a fuckin' rapist, y'know.."

Sebastian protested upon receiving the sedative, but quickly lost any will to struggle. "You know...I don't just walk outside 'n go...'gee, I sure feel particularly murderous today.' I did have motivation," he murmured, feeling the drug work quickly.

"I know," Ronald gushed. "One of the worst men alive! I absolutely have to study him. It's been so boring for me heeere~"

Eric crept over to Ronald and whispered in his ear, "Can we lock him up? At least until we can confirm he's not a danger to us? This's important."

Ronald crossed his arms over his chest and pouted childishly, drumming his fingers on his arms. He made a contemptuous sound and grudgingly nodded. "I guess so...but he came with that Will bloke, and he seems just fine, dunee?"

"We dunno that," said Eric under his breath. "Could be holdin' 'im captive or somethin'. Maybe it's got somethin' to do with why the guy practically burst into tears when we told him this was London. Can't take any chances, Ron...you know that." 

He left temporarily and came back with a pair of bolt cutters, intending to remove Sebastian's handcuffs.

Sebastian passed out quickly while Eric was gone, sliding sideways out of his chair. Ronald looked up and saw the bolt cutters, a look of dismay taking over his expression. "Oh, Eric, no! Not his famous handcuffs...!" he protested.

Eric gave him a blank look, then broke the cuffs off without a word. Two snaps was all it took. "It's okay," he replied, "since I'm gonna give him a brand new pair, and he can break those if he adores the look so much."

Ronald took the broken ones into his hands, looking at them like someone he loved had just died. "I'm keeping these and you can't stop me," he told him bitterly. "They're like a relic. They're a piece of history!"

"You're sick," said Eric, shaking his head. "I'm postin' guards by the door, okay. If they wake up and need a piss, give ‘em a bucket or somethin'." 

Micah turned to Ronald and raised a red eyebrow at him. "Ron, the dog."

Ronald got up to his knees and looked over at his shoulder to the dog, who was watching them. Upon making eye contact with Ronald, it weakly wagged his tail. "Oh. Right! Sorryyy, I got carried away," he apologized to Micah, hurrying back over to the dog to tend to it. He pocketed the broken handcuffs and got to work.

When Micah finished patching up the scientist and dressed him in a robe, he went on to the convicted felon and started fixing him up. Of course the scientist came first, in the priority of things, but Micah tried not to think of it that way. Who was he to value one person's life over another's? Though it was hard not to.

Ronald was certain that the dog had a few broken ribs, and likely a collapsed lung from some impact. He carried the well-mannered dog to another floor, where he knew there was a veterinarian who could assist the animal far better than he could. Under his care, the dog would be just fine. They would give it shots, antibiotics for its healing bite wound, and give it a clean bill of health before returning it to William.

\--

William awoke next day at the sound of thunder and rain on the boarded windows. There were people in the room with him, but none of them were Sebastian.  
Instinctively he was on alert, though he was very fuzzy, even with his glasses. 

"Where's...where's...Sebastian?" He mumbled, sitting up slowly.

Ronald had hovered around Sebastian's locked room so much that he'd been banned from the area, so now he was here waiting around William, hoping to hear more about the convict from an apparent close party. That, and he thought William was very handsome, so it just made everything even better for him.

He didn't quite catch William's mumbling, so he put down the textbook he'd been studying while waiting for the scientist to come around. "Sorry, what was that?" he asked, closing the book and standing up. "Did you ask where Sebastian is?"

"I cer-- I certainly did," William muttered, adjusting his glasses. "...It is most unlike him to leave my side like this. I need to know where he is, and you are going to tell me." God forbid they'd kicked him out and William was alone in this place. This goddamned London hospital.

Ronald watched him intensely, paying close attention to the tones William used when speaking about Sebastian. "Is it?" he asked, a little nervous from William's icy demeanor. "U-um, well...Eric...my colleague, Eric...has him in solitary confinement in another room. Safety issues, you know? I didn't want him to! But he says we have to make sure he's not a threat to the patients and staff."

William sat back, frowning considerably, and fighting off the wooziness caused by the sedatives. "And how should it be determined that he is not a threat?" he asked the younger man. "If he acts nice enough to you, perhaps?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. "If there was any danger, it would be now that you are holding him against his will."

"It's not up to me," Ronald replied, a little distressed. "He seemed fine with me, though...well, wary, and I don't blame him. I'm quite a fan of him, you see...not for what he's done, I mean -- but I want to know why he's done it. I wanted to write on him for my Master's thesis -- aahh, I'm rambling. You don't want to know this rubbish," he muttered. "The point is -- he is a serial killer, and a rapist. Convicted for it, tried and found guilty." He frowned, shoulders sagging. "They just want to be careful."

Ronald was right, William did not want to know this rubbish. "You'd be better off focusing on your medical skills. We don't need psychologists anymore, we need doctors. And..." He let out a slightly bitter laugh. "You don't need to tell me what he is. I know it all too well."

Ronald's shoulders hunched a little. "Psychiatrics are very important," he said stiffly, but then he paused at William's last statement. "...Are you...a victim of his?" he asked carefully.

William met his eyes, then glanced away. Ronald would know it as a sign of weakness. 

"Not if you're going to cite me as a source in your thesis," he replied. He'd been squirming for the last few minutes and glancing around for the bathrooms, but he didn't see any. He supposed he'd have to ask.

Ronald shook his head. "No. I'm asking you professionally, and I promise I don't cite anyone without their permission," he replied sincerely. He noticed William's squirming and knew immediately what was up. "Restroom...?"

"If you please." William stood up, his bare feet touching the cold, polished floors. "Anyway...I don't know if I should be talking about it to you in any case..."

Ronald smiled sadly. "It's fine. I know I can get really excited over some weird stuff." He gestured for William to follow him, and brought him a pair of hospital slippers. "But I'll just let you know you're probably the only credible witness to letting him wander these halls free. So if you want him by your side again, I'll need you to work with me so I can talk to my bosses and get him free."

"Well, with all due respect, hearing about the time he tried to rape or murder me isn't exactly conducive to that goal, wouldn't you say?" He followed Ronald with a bit of an awkward step-- god, he had to piss pretty bad. 

"Instead, I could tell you about all the times he has saved my life..."

Ronald glanced back at him in deep surprise. "He's saved your life?" he asked in awe. "That's unusual for a diagnosed sociopath."

"Why?" asked William. "More than anything, I am a means to an end. He needs to keep me ali--" He trailed away when he spotted the sign for the men's room and promptly stalked off.

"Ah, wait -- " Ronald exclaimed, hurrying after him. "I don't mean it like that. I mean, sociopaths don't just save lives. I've studied his patterns and methods, and that doesn't add up. If he's saved your life multiple times, then he's likely been misdiagnosed."

"Fine, good," said William from the stall he'd walked into. "Good for me, not for you. But at least I don't have to live with a dead-eyed, cold-blooded shark of a man...."

"Well, it's very good," Ronald said calmly. "Please, Mr. William...I want him back by your side just as much as you do. Please tell me more about him, more about him saving your life. I want to hear about that. Ah -- when -- when you're done in here, of course," he added hastily, blushing a little.

William rolled his eyes and waited for the sound of the door closing before he relieved himself. It was nearly impossible to go when someone else was around. 

"I'm absolutely famished," he said when he got back. "We can talk over food, if you wish it..."

Ronald nodded and lead him along again. "Absolutely," he said brightly. "What would you like? We have plenty of food because we have contact with an outside trader."

"Christ, I don't know. I've been eating oats for most of the week," said William flatly. "Whatever you can spare. "

"Anything, really," Ronald replied. "There's only about fifty people here now. We just got fresh fruit yesterday. And we've got pasta and rice, and plenty of canned goods that aren't oats," he added with a wink. "Come on, I'll take you down."

William walked with the excitable young Ronald, who sent to have meals made for them. "He swore me not to tell," said William as he sat down to wait, "but...I have seen him weep on more than one occasion. And I had to ask myself if a sociopath was capable of regret, remorse, desperation... And I have thought to myself as well that this diagnosis may have been incorrect."

Ronald scribbled this down in a notepad, in handwriting that it seemed like only he could read. "Weeping, really?" he asked excitedly, though in a carefully lowered voice. "Regret, remorse, desperation...what was the context of these displays, may I ask?"

"Well, there was the time  he attempted to take me without my permission. I managed to get the upper hand and pull a gun on him...and suddenly, he was so sorry. Then there came the time when, after a vicious fight, I sought to leave with an acquaintance of mine. He got himself dead drunk and begged me not to go."

William adjusted his glasses. "...I think there may be a flicker of goodness within him, however small."

The young psych nodded in agreement, nibbling on the tip of his pen. "So...he's expressed fear of being alone?" he asked William, studying his notes. "Does he show any consideration for your well-being, for instance in you can find no particular benefits for him, as well?"

"...I know not what he thinks. As I said, I am a means to an end, for him. But yes...perhaps. Maybe a little."

Ronald chewed on his pen a little more. "You said he's saved your life a few times...what exactly do you two do? Where did you come from that has a functioning portal?"

"I...he lives in an abandoned laboratory. I fixed the portal up, managed to acquire the necessary materials...got it working, by some miracle."

Food came then, fruits and rice and eggs with chopped pepper. It was an odd meal but William began wolfing it down as politely as he could manage.

Ronald didn't blame William for eating so quickly; most people here did. They were fortunate enough to have a bigger variety than other places. "Necessary materials...they run on Fausalium, don't they? We traded our store of it for a hell of a lot of medicine, heaters, and generators. I wonder if it made it to you."

"You wouldn't have had much use for it anyway, I think," said William once he'd finished a mouthful of egg. "No one's going to port to a hospital just so they can be shot...with all due respect."

His dark brows drew together and he glanced up at Ronald. 

"I wish to see Sebastian. Before or after he is freed, whichever is quicker. I should reassure him."

Ronald nodded again, twiddling his thumbs. "Before will probably be quicker, I'm sure," he replied, standing up. "I can take you to where they're holding him, but, uh...I'm personally not allowed to be within twenty feet of the door anymore," he added sheepishly. "I was bothering him. But they'll let you see him no problem if they know who you are."

William made Ronald wait until he'd finished eating. He was even tempted for seconds, as spicy as the egg was, but he couldn't be greedy. "If you say so." William was surprised that they would not suspect him to try and free this serial murderer.

Ronald had neglected to mention to William that Eric had put new handcuffs on him; it had honestly slipped his mind. 

When Sebastian had woken up, he found himself with his hands handcuffed behind his back, to a metal pipe, in one of the basement levels. His back and legs were cramped and sore, and he was starving. He was freezing cold, as well; he had stripped when Eric told him to, but had not been given clean, dry clothes, so he simply sat there in his underwear, since dried. The basement was damp, and he shivered, watching his breath form faint puffs in the dim fluorescent light.

He remembered everything that had happened, all up until he'd had that drug forced on him, and it scared him, not knowing where he was. He called for William for a while, but got no reply, and was only told by the guard outside his door to shut up. Rather than make a fuss, Sebastian begrudgingly obeyed, though he did politely ask for a blanket, in the very least. He went ignored.

He just needed to know where William was, and make sure he was all right.

William illuminated the basement when he opened the door, then closed it behind him and turned on the light. He bore a plate of food with him, and had sent Ronald to partition Eric (who seemed to be one of the people in charge) to free him. 

"Sebastian," he said simply, his voice touched with sympathy. It was so cold down here. "Goodness..."

Sebastian had lifted his head up when he heard the door open, and he watched William enter, feeling relief flood through his chest. "William," he murmured hoarsely. "Are you all right?"

"I am unharmed," said William as he approached him.  "I apologize for my lateness in coming...I slept for a long time." He  knelt in front of the man and knew he couldn't feed himself with his hands behind his back. 

"...And yourself?"

Sebastian rolled his shoulders, trying to make them feel not so stiff. "I suppose I've been better," he replied with a tired smile. "They aren't very hospitable, for a hospital, are they? I thought they might have done the same thing to you they've done here."

William could agree to that. "Logically...they were probably doing the right thing. How long have you been down here? You must be as hungry as I was." He picked up the spoon. "I will help you eat, if you wish it."

"I'm not sure," Sebastian muttered. "Hours, at least. Probably right after they drugged me." He blinked when William offered to help feed him. "You mean...this is for me?" he asked in surprise.

William nodded. "Do you think I would come here just to eat in front of you? You're probably starving...I was, when I woke up...Or...is someone already attending to your needs?"

Sebastian shook his head. "The most attention they've paid to me is telling me to shut up, to be honest," he replied. "Bunch of fuckers can't be arsed to give me a mouldy old blanket. But...yeah, I am starving, needless to say. Thanks for bringing me something."

This surprised William, to hear that Sebastian was being treated so coldly. "Maybe you murdered someone somebody here knew," he said as he fed him. He didnt even know Sebastian's butchers bill. He didn't want to.

Sebastian chewed slowly, not wanting to upset his stomach by eating too fast. Dealing with unsettled guts was not something he wanted to experience while chained up. "Who knows," he murmured. "I think it's more about the fact that I'm a murderer at all. I don't really blame them."

William pitied the man a little. "Do you need to use the toilet?" he then asked when Sebastian was nearly finished. "I could try and send for someone to attend you, or at least find a bucket."

Sebastian shook his head. "I kind of emptied out when we..." he trailed off. "...In the lab," he finished, with a small emphasizing nod of his head. "Haven't had anything since then, so...no need to go. But thank you." He sighed and sat back. "Mostly I'm just dying to be able to stretch. I mean, hell, I would've been fine if they'd just cuffed my ankles to the end of a bed or something, not this."

William was a bit relieved. "You have probably endured worse, Sebastian. Now...I sent the little blond one to try and get you freed. It shouldn't be too long. Just hang tight in the meantime." He touched Sebastian's cold shoulder, his eyes ghosting over his body, his underwear.

Sebastian shuddered a little, making a face. "The fanboy?" he muttered. "The one who probably fondles himself at the thought of the things that I do? Well, I'm /definitely/ saved now." He sighed again, letting William touch him with his warm hands, craving more of it. "...It really is cold down here, isn't it..."

"He makes me a bit uncomfortable, I agree...he has quite the sick fetish for your...wrongdoings, but he is a nice boy," said William, eyeing the way Sebastian leaned in to his touch. His slender fingers drifted over the pale skin, up his neck, along his jaw. "It is quite chilly...this is true."

Sebastian exhaled slowly, shuddering again, but this time in a good way. "Would you mind...staying here with me for a while?" he asked quietly, moving closer to William's touch as much as he was able.

William didn't need to be told twice, though he played it carefully. "...I suppose I don't have anywhere urgent that I need to be." His fingers combed through untidy black locks. A peculiar hairstyle, Sebastian had...William wondered why he didn't just hack it off and be done with it. 

Still...William liked it.

For once, Sebastian wasn't interested in any sexual contact. Just physical intimacy, warmth, and another human being's company. The worst thing about being locked up like this, for him, was the lack of conversation, the lack of William. Even though they didn't talk much, William had a presence that Sebastian had come to enjoy and feel very comfortable with. 

"Nowhere urgent, huh?" he murmured, letting William touch his hair, leaning into the gentle contact.

"I suppose," William echoed, getting off his knees and sitting down with him now. It was a relief on his aching knees. He continued to touch him innocently, liking the way Sebastian leaned in like a kitten to a gently scratching hand. "I'm not comfortable with the others."

"No?" Sebastian asked, closing his eyes contentedly. "Even though they're all idiot dog lovers like you?" His lips quirked up into a little smile; the insult wasn't genuine.

"What shall I speak of with them apart from my dog? One can only speak of a dog for so long before the conversation becomes repetitive." He touched the man's lip. "You are no great conversation yourself, but...at least I could touch you if I wanted. Honestly, I could do anything I wanted to, with you like this."

Sebastian lazily opened his eyes and gave William a sidelong glance. "Anything, huh? Tell me more about that, Mr. Spears," he murmured against William's finger.

"Well," said William, resting his second hand on Sebastian's upper thigh, while another brushed over his stiff nipple. "If I were less of a man, I might take you the way you tried to take me. Maybe I would...strike you for every time you ever struck me. Or maybe I'd just sit here and jeer at you until the time came that you shit yourself, then I might jeer some more. Believe me...I could do any of those things..." said William in a low voice.

Sebastian had to admit that the thought of William hitting back was quite a turn-on. He smirked and glanced up into his eyes, making firm eye contact. "You could do any of those things," he agreed just as quietly. "But will you?"

"No," said William simply. "I shan't stoop to that level." Nevertheless, he didn't want to go too far, taunting his only real companion. "Not while my life is not in danger." He leaned in and pecked Sebastian's cracked lips gently, stroking his cheek. "And nothing I do is...undesired, I think."

Sebastian kissed William back, sighing quietly and pleasurably. "No, not really," he agreed again. "I wonder what you'd look like, doing that...the fire in your eyes as you strike back against me...maybe the mockery and triumph as you jeer. You probably make beautiful faces doing those things...just as much as the one you made when I finally got to take you -- "

His eyes widened a little at the sudden realization that he did remember the night before last, the way it had looked and felt, how much he'd cried, and how they'd slowly undressed and grown more and more passionate...

He smirked in satisfaction now, and nodded in agreement with himself. "Yeah...that face you made when you hit your peak...~ was the most beautiful I've ever seen," he murmured.

William felt his cheeks become red. "I see. You probably get off at the thought of this. I bet bondage is one of your many kinks. I bet some part of you would love me if I...touched you right now, while we were so alone. And another part would hate me for teasing." He gave one of his nipples a little squeeze.

Sebastian gasped softly, his chest and shoulders tensing and squirming. "I've never been the sub in a bondage scene," he murmured huskily, "but you're making it sound not bad at all...nnn, don't rile me up like this when I can't even move..."

William considered. "But it's kind of nice to see you squirm so helplessly, wriggling like a worm on a hook." He went right ahead and squeezed his clothed groin. Without another word, he leaned forward and kissed him again, still twisting and tweaking his nipples while he groped him.

Sebastian's heartbeat quickened and he squirmed again, his body quickly beginning to heat up from the pleasurable sensations. He wanted badly to return them, and pulled against his cuffs to no avail. "Hhhnn...I'm...definitely...hooked," he moaned softly between kisses, shutting his eyes again.

Just what...was...their relationship? William supposed it was friendship with benefits...and that was a rather fair deal, really. As soon as he'd gotten his hand in those ever-so-slightly damp underpants and gripped the hardening cock they concealed, the door to the basement swung open. 

"Oho~" mused Eric. "Looks like we got ourselves a pair o' gay boys. That's surprisin'."

William looked like a deer caught in headlights as he backed off quickly.

Sebastian's aroused moan from his cock being gripped like that became a moan of disappointment and disgust as he looked up at Eric, not nearly as embarrassed as William to be caught in such a compromising position. "So? It's the twenty-first century. Plenty of fucking people are gay," he muttered under his breath in irritation to the Scotsman.

"Too right you are," said Eric. 

William took the opportunity to lean in and whisper, "Eric has a male partner named Alan...I do not think his taunts are intended to be homophobic."

He then returned his gaze to Eric. "Have you come to free Sebastian?" 

Eric simply nodded.

Sebastian just snorted derisively through his nose and looked away at William's explanation. "He doesn't have to act like we've discovered fire," he muttered.

Ronald appeared behind Eric with a faint blush, standing on the tips of his toes to peek over the tall Scotsman's shoulder. "Sorry for interrupting you, Mr. Sebastian, sir," he said meekly.

William frowned quite a bit at this, as did Eric. Sir?

"God, Ron, who let you in? Bugger off, will ye?" He closed the door, leaving Ronald outside as he came in to let Sebastian out of his cuffs.

Ronald's whined behind the door, voice muffled, letting out a quiet, "Awww, come ooonnnnn!"

Sebastian made a small sound of irritation. "Can't you put a leash on the kid...?"

"Twenty feet," muttered Eric, taking a key out of his pocket. "We said twenty feet."

"You know, you were the only thing he wanted to talk about when I kept his company today," said William.

"But why?" Sebastian asked, trying not to meet the blond's eyes as he peeked through the window in the door. "I'm not exactly famous for a good reason."

"I think he wants to study you like a lab rat," Eric replied, unclipping the handcuffs and backing away. "If I were you, I'd keep my distance...word of advice."

William wasn't sure why Eric said this, but he would gladly obey while under his roof.

"Make him keep his and we'll be just fine," Sebastian replied coolly, slowly moving his arms forward. Even gentle movement hurt, and he winced, cursing under his breath, but he carefully stood up and stretched his legs out, rubbing his wrists. He looked down at them blankly, having not seen them free of shackles in years.

William left with Sebastian, and Eric took them to a ward room-turned-guest room, where they could stay, and where their belongings had been brought. 

"Your dog will be right as rain in a few days. Ron is good for a thing or two."

William was relieved.

Sebastian's clothing had been washed, at least, and it smelled good, like real fabric softener. He couldn't help but bury his nose into the sheepskin collar of his bomber jacket and have a long sniff of the pleasant aroma before he got dressed again.

Sebastian and William dressed in their washed clothes, and William instantly felt much warmer. He looked through a gap in the glass not covered by wooden or metal boards, and looked outside. Smoggy as ever. Typical London. And still fucking raining. 

Eric returned shortly. "While you stay here and consume our supplies, we would have you earn your keep. We will put you to work, one way or another...everyone does their part. We can't afford to be charitable."

Sebastian nodded in understanding. "I'm better for physical labor, but William here can fix electronics and appliances. He's fixed my stove more times than I can count, and he's repaired Geiger counters, which has been dead useful for us," he replied. "Put us to work how you see fit...I don't plan on lazing about. Not my style, anyway."

"The scientist'll be useful, aye. But every man here is capable of physical labor. I need someone who'll do some dirty work. And who better than yerself?"

Eric clearly did not have a great deal of respect for the Black Plague. 

"We need dead bodies. Stinkin', rottin' bodies of infected. There are rumors that the virus can mutate to become airborne. We have a man experimenting to test this, in the morgue."

"I-- I could help!" William said suddenly, but Eric shook his head. "Ah...he's an odd one. He kinda prefers to work alone."

Sebastian frowned. "You actually want me to bring back Reaper corpses?" he asked dubiously. "They don't exactly sound like the best thing to bring into a hospital. I'm assuming you have spare body bags and hazard suits?"

Eric frowned at him. "...Don't question our intelligence, laddie," he growled. "We are far smarter than the company you're used to."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't insult William," he said quietly. "He's the only company I'm used to. I'll do your damn dirty work; just give me the details and I'll do it."

"I was not insulting the scientist," said Eric. "He is worth five of you. I mean your other company. Liars and murderers and rapists alike. Details will come in time."

"Fine," Sebastian growled, scowling unpleasantly. "Bring them when you have them, then."

"Rest tonight, and tomorrow," said Eric. 

"Get to know the people around here. Try not to make enemies," he said, looking at Sebastian. "We can be..ruthless."

Sebastian exhaled sharply through his nose, feeling talked down to. "I'm not an idiot. I get it; I'm the scum of the Earth. I'll be a good boy and stay out of your hair, all right?"

"Brilliant," said Eric, and then he left. 

William sighed. "Quite a grudge he seems to have against you. We'd better not get on his bad side."

Sebastian sank down onto the bed, feeling very irritated. "Well, yeah. He's not in the wrong, but he doesn't need to talk down to me," he muttered. "I'm already on his shit list, but I really have no intentions of causing any trouble here. I'd have to be incredibly stupid to do that."

"I just pray nobody calls you a dog," said William, “since your brains tend to fly out the window. But you have been taunted enough, today. I will give you peace." He lightly touched Sebastian's hair.

The raven sighed and leaned into William's touch. "Probably should warn everyone what my berserk button is so that no one touches it," he murmured. "It can be easy enough to avoid if we do that."

"Or they become more likely, to see if you can become as murderous as the records say." William sat down beside him. "We were interrupted earlier. Would you be interested in continuing?"

"They'd be the idiots, then," Sebastian replied tiredly. "I don't exactly want to kill anyone." He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I would be. Stupid Eric probably heard us and thought it'd be a real laugh to catch us red-handed," he said with a smirk, looking up at William. "If he does it again, we should just keep going, and stare at him the whole time until he leaves."

William shrugged. "In the end, our loyalties shall lie to each other. We are a team." He moved into Sebastian's lap and kissed him, because it seemed almost natural...for the sake of satiating base desires. William was realizing he was a more sexual creature than first he'd believed.

Sebastian slipped his arms around William's waist, grateful to be able to hold him close again. Even up here, it was cold, and being able to be more intimate helped them warm up a little more. He kissed him deeply, relaxing and sighing contentedly into the kiss. "We are a team, aren't we?" he murmured against William's lips. "A damn good one, too..."

"We live and bleed together. I have given up much for you. Do not...betray me," he said for what was the second time, then he slipped beneath Sebastian and let Malphas satiate him.

"No...not again," Sebastian promised, deftly undressing the man beneath him in order to make love to him. It was quick and smooth, and it certainly warmed them up rather nicely, leaving them panting and sweating by the end of it. They simply lay together on the mattress after that, basking in the afterglow of orgasm, and Sebastian found himself studying William's face as they lay there, William as handsome as ever.

Lying together naked, his legs entwined with Sebastian's, the two of them hot and sweaty just the way William liked it, it was there that William felt safe. This was only the second time they'd done it, but William enjoyed it each time.

Sebastian had very much grown to love William's body, and he held it close and protectively. It felt very comfortable, and they didn't need to say anything. They laid in silence for some time, just listening to each other's breathing and heartbeats.

After a while, Sebastian murmured, "Should we explore the place sooner than later...? It'd be useful to know where everything is..."

"I'm not terribly inclined to get up," said William truthfully. These blankets felt so soft beneath him. 

Nonetheless, he did get up, and got his cold clothes back on.

We can come back," Sebastian pointed out, sitting up and following suit. "Maybe shag again before we get cozy~" he added with a playful smirk.

"Don't push it," said William, wincing a little as he stood. This one hurt. "You needn't be so rough...I am not so well used a scabbard for your sword. It will not fit so easily.."

He replaced his glasses and combed his hair.

Sebastian frowned as he pulled his trousers back on. "We didn't have lube this time," he murmured apologetically. "Next time I'm being too rough, just say so, then..." He buttoned his shirt up. "Anytime we don't have some kind of lube on us, we shouldn't penetrate...it's harder to get in, anyway."

"And yet you did it anyway," said William. He did not look angry, however. 

They left the room shortly. The hospital was much less busy than a normal hospital. The place had intense defenses, walls and barbed wire and strong gates.

"Harder, not impossible," Sebastian replied cheekily, tipping him a little wink, then leaving.


	13. Into Hell (Memento Mori)

TW: Gore

The hospital was most certainly not the picture of comfort; it honestly looked more like a prison, with the barbed wire and the guards everywhere, the large gates and the tunnels. Sebastian thought it better to stick closer to William for now and not go anywhere alone, lest he get shot to pieces by one of the unpleasant-looking guards.

William wandered the mostly empty halls. They went upstairs and sought out the cafeteria in he hopes they might find somebody. Eric had mentioned a meeting room, though William had forgotten to ask him where it was.

There wasn't really much in the cafeteria except for a couple of cooks on duty, and a couple of nurses huddled in a corner having coffee. Something on one of the tables caught Sebastian’s eye -- a small pile of old magazines. One of them in particular grabbed his attention immediately, and without a second thought he left William's side to go pick it up. It was an old copy of Your Cat, though in relatively good condition, and he opened it up at once, gazing at the pictures in exactly the same way a child would browse a toy catalogue.

William frowned at him, shaking his head. "Honestly..." Leaving him to his cat pin-up magazine, he went to introduce himself to the nurses and cooks. They weren't really employed; they just did what they could to survive.

There was pleasant enough conversation between them, about until one of the nurses, a young woman, glanced over at Sebastian and recognized who he was. She was noticeably frightened after that; the entire staff had been alerted to Sebastian's presence. "Is it really okay for him to just be walking around like this?" she whispered. "What's Mr. Slingby thinking...?"

William ran a hand through his hair. "He can be trusted well enough, while I'm with him. He has no desire to hurt anyone who does him no wrong." That felt like a lie. It sort of was, but he couldn't have these whispers going about.

"Please stay close to him, then, Dr. Spears," she whispered tremulously. "You must be some sort of living miracle if he'll behave under your watch."

Sebastian was honestly oblivious to the conversation, totally absorbed in his magazine and turning the pages reverently.

Doctor...how long it had been since anyone had called William that?   
"He'll behave in and outside it, I believe," said he. "Would you be so kind as to give me a tour of the place? We are quite lost. What say we leave him to his magazine and go?" 

The nurses managed a little giggle. Dr. Spears was very handsome, and he spoke as a gentleman would. "That sounds lovely."

"We most certainly can," the first nurse confirmed. "The...the cooks can watch him, I'm sure. We're done here, so we can go right now, if you'd like."

So William left with the buzzing nurses, strolling politely with them like he strolled with people before the Outbreak. 

Sebastian was left alone with his cats for a while before a boy, no older than 13, strode into the cafeteria to ask the cooks if any sweet cakes or pastries might have been made today, as he wished to sample them. His hair was a dark color that looked blue under the right light, he wore boots, and had an eyepatch over his right eye.

Something in the boy's voice made Sebastian look up -- a young voice that had not yet undergone puberty, but held the highest confidence and command that only an adult man could carry. He only saw the boy from behind, for now, but fixed his gaze upon him, intrigued by the young man, and listened to him speak.

One of the cooks, a sweet older woman who looked as if she could turn tough in a second and beat a man to death with a rolling pin, smiled amiably at the boy. "I had a feeling you'd be over, little Ciel," she said. "We made sweetbread biscuits today, soft and sugary. They are supposed to be for dessert, but I think we could spare a few."

"I am not little," replied the boy indignantly. "I am well on my way to becoming a man."

The cooks chittered to themselves while biscuits were fetched. 

Ciel made a short sound of gratification when he received a plate and some soda, then went to take a seat when he caught Sebastian's eye. 

"Who're you?" he asked quite sharply.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at the boy's -- Ciel's, apparently -- brusque nature. He considered telling a lie about his identity, but right off he could see that the boy was by no means foolish. Interested to see how he would react, he gave him his real name. "I'm Sebastian Michaelis," he replied. "I'm visiting with a friend."

Ciel narrowed his one eye at him a bit. "Oh, right...I recall it now. The thieving, raping murderer. Came with piss-soaked breeches through a portal with a scientist." Placing a small hand on one boyish hip, Ciel glanced around. He'd rather have met the scientist. "I can't say it's a pleasure. What do you want from us?" He spoke with a strong English accent, high-born and sophisticated, as if he were a little lord.

Sebastian couldn't stop his cheeks from heating up, but he managed at least to keep a neutral face. "Asylum. A few days' rest," he replied calmly. "We were forced here through the portal by a Reaper unlike any we'd ever seen and might need reinforcements, since bullets didn't seem to work on it."

Ciel began to eat one of his biscuits. "I hope you won't linger for too long then, murderer. Evil tends to follow evil. But I'll see if we can keep the good doctor...mutant reapers need to be studied."

Sebastian, as fascinated as he was by this little lord, was starting to sorely dislike him. To quietly express this, he reached over and took a biscuit for himself, having a bite. "You sound terribly confident about that. William and I are a team. If you want him, you'll have to deal with me, as well."

Ciel looked quite affronted that Sebastian took one of his biscuits, but he sat down with him nonetheless. "I do not," he replied simply. "My aunt will have you back in the basement faster than you could draw your gun. ...Alas, you were disarmed upon your arrival, as I recall." He laughed a little, quite darkly. "We do need a little excitement around here, though."

"That depends on if William will cooperate, with me being in the basement, which I'm quite sure he won't," Sebastian replied. "But if you're looking for excitement from me, you'll be disappointed. You won't see me going on any murderous rampages as long as I'm in here. You see, I promised Eric I'd be a good boy."

"He'll cooperate if we bend his arm. Don't underestimate us. We have done a great many misdeeds just to make our living here. Maybe we could chop off a piece of you each day, and.." He trailed away. "Never mind. I shall merely observe..."

Sebastian smiled wryly. "Misdeeds? How much better than me does that make you, I wonder? Don't underestimate us, either. I don't have a demon's name for an alias just for fun, you know. You're very interesting, little Ciel."

"I know," replied Ciel curtly. "The difference between us is that we have the greater good in mind, not just our own selfish needs. That's all a demon is, am I not correct? Selfish, greedy, lustful... Envious, proud..."

"Perhaps you're right," Sebastian replied after a while. "And perhaps you're not. I simply just don't think William will be as easily swayed as you think. You have not met him."

"I shall make measure of him in due time," Ciel announced, an arrogant lidding to his one rich blue eye. "Just keep your hands to yourself, and all should be fine." He began to eat another biscuit. He stayed and chatted with Sebastian for upwards of an hour about his situation. Sebastian was very interesting, if nothing else, and Ciel longed for entertainment in this camphor-smelling prison.

Sebastian really didn't know what to think of young Ciel. He honestly acted like a grown man trapped in a child's body, and Sebastian was more than intrigued by his intelligence and calculating looks. But his arrogance and clear spoiled personality repelled him, and then he was drawn in by that beautiful sapphire eye, and wondered what had happened to the other one. 

It was after at least an hour that they heard a similar confident, commanding voice, calling Ciel's name. 

"Ciel! Ciel Phantomhive, where in Heaven's name have you gone!" came the cry, a woman's voice. "If you're down in the kitchen taking biscuits again...!"

Ciel cringed a little. "Blazes...how she hounds me, the Madame Red. Scarcely a moment's peace." He stood up and passed his half-finished soda to Sebastian. "I shall do as I please, aunt!" He called back.

"Madame Red...?" Sebastian began quizzically, but his query was answered by a woman swaggering into the cafeteria, looking none-too-pleased. She was a tall, incredibly beautiful woman, swathed in almost nothing but red -- her scrubs were crimson, her trainers were scarlet, and even her bobbed hair was a fiery, burning red, like spider lilies. The only thing not red that she wore was a doctor's coat, and even then he could see little hints -- red pens, a red notepad.

She spotted Ciel and rounded on him at once. "Ciel, I told you you're going to spoil your appetite," she scolded him. "You may be my nephew, but you've no right to come down and help yourself to treats before everyone else while we're all working so hard -- " 

She laid eyes on Sebastian, pupils dilating with interest at first to such a handsome stranger, but in the next moment she realized who Sebastian was, and she carefully laid a hand on Ciel's shoulder. "...Ciel, was this man bothering you?" she asked in a carefully friendly voice.

Ciel scoffed. "If he did, I would deal with him myself. I merely stopped to chat. And I have told you, aunt, that in these times one is never short an appetite, one should never miss an opportunity to have a meal, because they don't know if it will be their last."  
He wiggled away from her touch.

Madame Red would not have it, and pulled him into a protective cuddle. "You're so headstrong, just like your father," she sighed. "You're still a young boy, Ciel! You have to be more careful, even here."

Ciel's youthful cheeks became red, but it seemed he could not defy his aunt for too long. In the presence of Sebastian, though, he tried a little harder to maintain his dignity. 

"I-I can take care of myself, woman! I've killed Reapers before, you know I have. And I'm never unarmed."

She gave him a sharp smack on the top of his head. "Don't you call your own aunt 'woman'!" she scolded again. "It's 'Aunt Ann' to you!"

Sebastian smirked faintly, resting his chin in his hand. "He's quite a handful, isn't he?" he commented. "He acts like a little king."

She sighed and let Ciel go. "He can be," she agreed, keeping a wary eye on Sebastian. "He certainly has a mind of his own."

Ciel hurried off, his boots clacking against the floor, giving the short boy just a little boost in height. The less time he had to spend with his aunt, the better. But he was running out of hiding places.

Madame Red excused herself and went after Ciel again, though she kept a sharp, alert eye on Sebastian as she left. It was clear she would do everything in her power to keep Ciel away from him. 

Sebastian wasn't bothered; he was used to it. Figuring he should get a move on, as well, he took his cat magazine with him. Before he left, he looked at the cup of soda that Ciel had left and offered him, debating on whether or not to give it a try. It had been ages since he'd had anything to drink besides water or alcohol, so he supposed a soft drink could be a decent change. He put his lips to the rim, fully conscious that Ciel's had just been on them -- Ciel's small but perfectly formed Cupid's bow -- and tipped his head back to drink it. It wasn't bad; just a Coke, but a little flat from age. He wouldn't complain.

The mysterious and charismatic little boy on his mind as he wandered, Sebastian set off, holding the magazine to his chest and throwing the cup away as he left.

William was having a fair time talking to the closest thing to scientists he'd had in a long time. Medical doctors were people of science too, and they knew a bit about the chemical balances in the body, which gave William a handhold for conversation. He seemed to get along quite nicely with everyone, though he knew it would be the opposite for Sebastian. 

He only left these people when Micah, the red-headed Irish nurse, showed William to his dog, where Ronald was still feeding him.

Ronald looked up from the dog, having fed him a meal of dog food with warm water and cottage cheese mixed together in a bowl, to make things easier for his stomach to process. He saw William and gave him a bright smile. "Hey! Have people been showing you around?" he asked, rubbing the dog behind the ears.

The dog's tail began to wag excitedly. He was looking so much better. 

"Yes. I spoke to some nurses and doctors. It was quite pleasant. Sebastian found a cat magazine, so I left him to it. I'm sorry you were so shunned earlier."

"Does he like cats?" Ronald wondered aloud, but then spoke to William directly again. "And hey, it's all right. I've calmed down since then and it, uh...I'm used to it," he said with a sheepish grin. "I was in the way, so it's not a big deal. I'm just glad I was able to help you guys out!"

"I appreciate it. As such, I will do one favor for you. Ask what you wish of me, within reason," said William. "I like to pay my debts." He scratched his dog's ears fondly, and the canine gave him a happy lick.

"I'll keep that in mind," Ronald replied brightly. "And I owe you an apology for badgering you the way I did, all day, so...I'm sorry for that. I know I tend to make people a bit uncomfortable, but I don't mean to. I just get excited really easily because psychiatry is my passion." 

He turned back to the dog and scratched under his chin. "Some of the only names I could come up with were of famous psychiatrists, like Sigmund or Freud. I dunno if you'd go with that...I heard you're a chemist, right? So maybe something neat like naming him after Madame Marie Curie or something."

William adjusted his glasses stiffly. "You are a sheltered boy," he said, though his tone was gentle. "Sane people cannot find the time to be so passionate about their hobbies in this world." He turned away, then spoke up. "Charles, then, or Darwin?"

"Yeaaah, well...I'm stuck here and I'm not much use, so I'm really just a backup nurse," Ronald replied with a shrug. "I find time for it, somehow. There's a lot of textbooks here that I study in my spare time. I should give the DSM another thorough read so I can give Sebastian a more proper look at his symptoms, because there's too many inconsistencies for him to be a real sociopath." He realized he was rambling again, and then cleared his throat. 

"Darwin's a good name," he added self-consciously, a faint blush rising to his cheeks. "And, and Einstein..."

"Darwin it is," said William, deciding he'd tune Ronald out when he rambled about Sebastian, much like he would tune out Sebastian himself when he got too annoying. 

"Yes, the father of evolution. Do you like Darwin?" He asked the speckled dog, and Darwin barked in response.

Still feeling self-conscious and embarrassed by himself, Ronald changed the subject a little. "So...so where did Darwin come from?" he asked. "Just out on the streets?"

"Yes," said William, glad for the change of subject. Of course it would lead back to Sebastian, though. "I found him while we were riding home one day. I insisted vehemently that we keep it, even begged, but Sebastian would not budge. Eventually he threw me back on the bike and...made me leave the poor thing. Oh, but I did make the man regret it. Eventually, said Sebastian, it followed him home one day and he decided to give it to me to form a truce."

As much as he didn't want to, Ronald made an effort to keep the conversation off of Sebastian as much as possible. Just for William's sake. "Oh, I see...well, he's in good hands," he said with a smile. "He sure likes you a lot. What a lucky lil' pup~"

"Yes he is," said William, scratching the newly-named Darwin behind the ear. "He is my closest friend. Thank you for taking care of him." He chatted for a short while with Ronald, then took his leave.

Sebastian soon had enough wandering aimlessly about with his Your Cat magazine and getting either frightened or dirty looks wherever he went, so he simply made his way back to the room where he and William would be staying for a while. He kicked his boots off and curled up on the bed, burying himself back into his magazine and wishing he could squeeze those cute, delicate paws and stroke their soft, silky fur. It was more than enough to keep him occupied while he waited for William to come back.

William had showered alone when he returned, then joined Sebastian to relax. "Did you find any interesting places today?" He asked of him.

"Places?" Sebastian echoed. "No. I did meet a few people, though. The head surgeon and her nephew...he's the strangest kid I've ever met. He's probably no older than thirteen or fourteen years old but it's like there's an old man trapped inside him."

William raised a dark brow. "I did hear there was a young boy in residence here...He must be quite intriguing if he caught your interest...being a child, and all."

Sebastian forced a bit of a smile. "He's an arrogant, insufferable brat but at the same time, he's really...what's the word? Charismatic. Probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth, rich little shit..."

"England once favored its royals. Before they were all eaten," said William. "The boy could have distant royal blood and been raised highborn."

Sebastian shrugged. "However he was raised, I find him very interesting. He knew exactly who I am and didn't seem even the slightest bit afraid, while everyone else, even his aunt, steered very clear of me."

"Right, well, keep your claws off him. I am going to dinner now. Will you join me?" He scarcely waited for Sebastian before heading out the door.

"I guess I will," Sebastian decided, getting back up and following after William. "Based on what you fed me earlier, they're not too badly off."

He followed William back down to the cafeteria again, which was much more full of people this time, now that it was dinnertime. He looked around surreptitiously for Ciel, but did not see the enigmatic young boy. He supposed his protective aunt had him eat separately from the rest of the people, to further attempt to shelter him.

After their meal, he was approached by Eric and given his first assignment -- he was to be stationed down at the morgue to assist the mortician with anything he was doing. Sebastian tried to protest and explain that wasn't at all his area of expertise and he wouldn't be of much help down there, but Eric wouldn't hear a word of it. Sullenly, he made his way down after saying goodbye to William, considering half-assing anything he did to perhaps annoy the mortician enough to get kicked out.

He was shown the way out of the hospital through a tunnel, which made him already long for his hidden laboratory. It was a relief to come back outside, even though it was still raining. It was better than being cooped up indoors. He wasn’t permitted a gun; he wasn’t trusted to not turn on everyone. Instead, all they gave him was a gas mask, a body bag, and an axe. In Sebastian’s hands, an axe was a formidable enough weapon to kill a reaper with. 

He set out on foot, and missed his motorcycle and his knives he carried everywhere. He felt vulnerable as hell without any sort of backup weapons with him. Still, it was a job that got him outside, so he’d simply be extra careful. He was out for hours, stalking about, exploring the area and committing it to memory, planning on drawing maps again. 

He was very close to one of the settlements he knew of when he came across a Reaper that he very nearly mistook for human, which was an indicator of how freshly it had been turned. This made it easy to kill, for it hadn’t yet gotten the instincts needed to hunt. He made sure it was the only one around, and then darted out from the shadows, splitting its face open with one hit from the axe. It never had a chance of fighting back. 

Sebastian let it bleed out for a while before stuffing it into the body bag. He zipped it up and sighed, staring down at it. The bastards could have at least given him a gurney to move this thing on. He wasn’t going to carry it, so dragging it, it was. He picked it up by the feet and began the long journey back to the hospital.

It was another few hours before he made it back, passed the guards, and taking it downstairs to the basement levels. With a little difficulty, he extracted the location of the morgue from a guard who distrusted the raven (who finally caved when the convict threatened that the guard would be the next one in the body bag). 

As Sebastian went to enter the morgue, now in a bad mood, there was a bio-scan annex chamber that locked him down for a minute with steel plated doors. "UNAUTHORISED LIFE FORM DETECTED. PLEASE IDENTIFY."

Red lasers scanned him in depth.

Sebastian furrowed his brow as he struggled with the weight of the body bag. Who the hell needed such high security in a morgue? "Sebastian Michaelis," he replied irritably. "Eric sent me."

A face appeared behind a dark window. They couldn't be identified as male or female as their features were obscured by hat and hair. "Forgive me~ Miss Bio Scan has to make sure you're not carrying one who likes to feign death." The glee could even be heard in his voice. "Hehe, it would not...have been the first time~ Do come in."

The door unlocked and Sebastian was allowed in.

The morbid glee reminded Sebastian unpleasantly of someone he knew, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He could only think of red and an annoying smirk. The thought was pushed away; it was unimportant. He stepped through the threshold, dragging the body bag with the slain Reaper behind him. He dropped it onto the ground with an unceremonious thud, glancing around. It was dark in here, and it stank of death, chemicals, and stale, dusty air. He couldn't make anything out.

The grin had turned to a scowl. 

"Do be more careful. Bodies rot and fall apart."  There were only the dimmest lights on, and it revealed hundreds of shelves in which bodies were stored. The room was quite cold, too.

"Relax. It's fresh," Sebastian replied indifferently, pushing the body bag closer to the mortician with his foot. "They can't have been turned more than three days ago." 

He couldn't help but glance around at his surroundings. The shelves were a little unnerving, knowing perfectly well how likely it was they were all full. When he turned his attention to the mortician himself, he thought he was looking at the most bizarre-looking person he had ever seen. Eyes hidden by a low-hanging fringe, and scars disappeared up under the fringe, giving the effect that he looked a little like Frankenstein's monster. His hair was white, as well -- not the soft, pure snow-white like Agni's, but more like grayish, dirty snow, unwashed and unkempt. An extremely unpleasant aroma hung around the man -- what the morgue smelled like, the mortician seemed to completely embody. Sebastian wrinkled his nose a little.

The mortician stepped forward and extended a white, spidery hand, tipped with odd black claws. "Welcome to my morgue~ My name is Gabriel, if it please you. Gabriel Giltine." He giggled to himself, seemingly quite amused by having Sebastian here. "And may I say, it's...an honor, heh, Malphas~"

I see you have plenty of time to give yourself pretty manicures, Sebastian thought privately before he reached out and halfheartedly shook the man's hand. "Another fan?" he asked warily, not bothering to keep the disappointment and contempt from his voice. "Are you in cahoots with Blondie upstairs?"

"Oh, no. I could care less for what goes on in your head. It is your masterpieces I am intrigued by. I'd say a little clumsy, but in a beautiful sort of way, uhu~" He flashed Sebastian a grin and began moving the body onto a dollie.

"It's not art. It's murder. Plain and simple," Sebastian replied, picking the body up by the feet to move it up onto the dollie. "I don't see what's so fascinating about it."

Gabriel clicked his tongue. "Thank you for dropping off a Special One for me~ you have done well. See you around, my murderous friend." Clearly that was all that the eccentric man expected, and now Sebastian was being dismissed.

Sebastian remained where he was for a moment, feeling used and very irritated. "What do you need a Reaper for, anyway?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, not intending to go any time soon. "Seems like the last place you want to bring one is a hospital."

"Seems like it, oh yes. But this is as far from the wards as you could get, in this building. And we take sanitation very, very seriously. I am a creature of science, and these bizarre things are my...interest." 

"Creature of science, is it?" Sebastian repeated dubiously. "You definitely look the part. The mad scientist bit, that is. Crazed grin, grizzly gray hair...what do you do with these things?" he asked again. "Are you looking for a cure, too? Though..." he glanced Gabriel Giltine up and down again. "...From the looks of you, I'd say you probably have your own agenda."

"We all have our little secrets, oh yes, we do indeed~!" He cackled to himself and proceeded to shuffle off into the darkness, his back bent even though his skin was not wrinkled, only scarred.

Sebastian tch'd in irritation from the lack of an answer, and set his jaw a little as he watched the madman disappear into the shadows. He strode forward, dropping his arms and holding them stiffly at his sides as he pursued him, determined not to leave until he got an answer. "Look, if I'm going to be your little lackey, I'd at least like to know what my efforts are going towards," he said stubbornly.

"Truly?" asked the mortician. "I am not surprised. You did love to meddle, from what I hear of you. I could say that it's not your business, that you can either work or be sent away, heehee. That would be rather impolite though...would it not?!" Gabriel began to laugh yet again.

Sebastian peered determinedly through the darkness, trying to find the mortician again. "And what have you heard of me?" he prodded, groping blindly forward. His curiosity had been too piqued to let this go. "Besides my alias."

"Shh...you don't want to wake anyone," chided Gabriel with a leer. "Best be on your way, my murderous friend. They don't like visitors."

Sebastian grit his teeth and surged forward blindly into the darkness. His hand finally landed on the mortician's sleeve, and he gripped it tightly.

"How about you tell me what you mean by 'wake' these corpses, friend," he hissed into the man's ear. "They're just going to have to deal with me."

Gabriel glanced at the hand on his shoulder, then up at Sebastian. His eyes could just be seen twinkling behind his fringe. "Like you dealt with the one in your lab~?" he cackled. "You have been told that I prefer privacy. But if the kind murderer will insist upon intruding, I suppose I shall put you to work! Yes, to work~!" he announced gleefully.

Sebastian grit his teeth even harder, setting his jaw, and squeezed the man's shoulder even tighter. "You didn't even see it," he growled. "It was twice the size of normal Reapers and immune to bullets. You, though...are not. I doubt anyone would miss you if I decided to let my hand slip." 

He narrowed his eyes to see the mortician better in the dim light. "Tell me what kind of work you're thinking about."

"I'm familiar with the Abnormals," the eccentric man replied smoothly, brushing his hand away. "You would be wise not to let your hand slip, my silly, arrogant young friend. You would find the consequences quite disagreeable." 

He swanned away, flipping on a light that dimly lit up the morgue. "What first? We have a few old bodies need be disposed of...let us tend to that~"

Sebastian paused in his steps, feeling an awful sensation of foreboding that made his chest tighten a little. "They...so that's a normal thing?" he asked incredulously, not bothering to hold back his shock. "Why don't more people know about that?"

He blinked when the lights came on, staring Gabriel down. "That's something that everyone should know about."

"...Most that encounter them do not survive," said Gabriel with a keen smile. He handed Sebastian an apron and gloves. "Never had a dead one in here, no...and who knows how much further they can evolve?" 

He pulled open a drawer, and a heavily decomposed corpse came sliding out on a tray. 

"Put them in the black bags, then make sure you clean all the muck out~"

The smell that accompanied the corpse was horrific. The stench of rotten, decomposing flesh and death filled the area even more pungently than before, and Sebastian held his nose with his hand. After a few moments, he recovered from the utter shock of the stench, pulling his hand away and rolling his sleeves up. "Aren't these supposed to be refrigerated so that they don't decompose so quickly?" he muttered contemptuously, pulling the gloves on and donning the apron.

"The stench clouds your other senses," mused the mortician. "Feel inside. These are all cooled. We expend much power to keep it that way. Now, when the body is bagged, I shall take it to the incinerator."

The stench of death and rot was absolutely overwhelming, and could easily make someone upturn their lunches, but Gabriel Giltine did not seem bothered.

Sebastian quickly learned to start breathing through his mouth if he didn't want to lose his lunch. "Jesus fuck," he muttered again. "Then how long have you been keeping these around? Shit, these reek...it's probably more cost-effective to just incinerate your dead right away, isn't it? Less risk of the virus, too, and..."

He trailed off when he examined the corpse remains more closely, looking through the decaying muscles and noticing strange mutations -- he knew dead bodies well, and these were unlike any he'd seen that weren't already on...

"...is this the beginning stage of the Reaper virus?" he thought aloud, brow furrowed. "Look at these tumors..."

"Because no one will learn anything if they are burned right away, wouldn't you say?" replied the mortician dismissively. "You are a clever little killer. What else brings such distortion to the faces of our dear Reapers? Careful now...these ones love to fall apart on you, like a slow-cooked leg of lamb...the meat just falls off the bone~"

Sebastian glanced sideways at him. "Research should be done in labs, not hospitals," he said just as dismissively. "You're probably the most brilliant, mad, idiot I've ever had the displeasure of meeting." He got a body bag ready on a nearby gurney and prepared to move the corpse to it. Exactly as the mortician had told him, it proved to be an extremely difficult job because the flesh wouldn't stay put. An entire chunk of the dead person's thigh slid right off to the floor with a splat, and Sebastian had to turn away, gagging dryly. He had worked with freshly-killed corpses, never something so far rotten. He hated that he was feeling so weak and openly disgusted in front of someone, especially this mortician whom he already so detested.

The silver-haired man just smiled and chuckled to himself as he watched. "You'll need to clean that, too. We cannot compromise the sanitation of this environment, no~"

When the body was in the bag (in many pieces, too) Gabriel took it off to the incinerator.   
Sebastian was left to clean out the narrow drawer, quite an uncomfortable and unpleasant job. 

More bodies were taken, in varying stages of infection. The more infected they were, the worse they stank, regardless of the stage of decomposition. Pus tended to leak everywhere, and that was rank. But the mortician never battered an eye or crinkled his nose.

Sebastian decided that Gabriel Giltine was secretly a machine. There was simply no other explanation for his complete lack of reaction to the stenches that these bodies gave off. At one point, he finally did have to excuse himself to throw up in the bathroom, but he returned with his head high, determined for it to not happen again. He held his breath as often as he could as he worked, dead set on not making any more reactions in front of this man.

Of course, he had lost his dignity by now. They both knew it.  

But Gabriel finally relieved him of this unpleasant duty...only to give him something just as awful.

"Let me show you now to my collection~ I have a little task for you." 

They passed through some seven-inch thick steel plated doors, to a dark room. Moaning could be heard, low and awful. When the lights came on, Sebastian could see the source-- a large room of maybe five Reapers. But these were not ordinary, these were experiments. 

Most noticeable was a conjoined Reaper.

"Ischiopagus dipus~" The mortician announced with a flourish. "Such a rarity!" 

The twins moaned and wailed and leaned forward. As their name suggested to anyone with a sound knowledge of Latin medical terms, they were joined at the hip, with only two legs.

Next was a Reaper with tiny limbs sticking out of its abdomen. "Fetus-in-fetu." And last in his collection of Siamese infected was a hideous monster with a second head sprouting off its main one. 

"Craniopagus parasiticus~! Freddy sometimes even blinks and opens his mouth~ George is much more conversational." George seemed to be the host body and struggled against his chains, trying to rip off his second head. 

The other Infected included one that was faceless, one with deformed, claw-like arms, like those of a crab or other similar arthropod, one thats entire left arm was swollen and glowing (this one moaned the most hideously). 

Gabriel added, "He's my harakiri. When that tumor bursts, it will create an immense explosive reaction!~" 

And last of all was one that's stomach was incredibly bloated. 

"Ah...she looks perfectly ripe. You're right on time, Mr. Michaelis!"

Sebastian could have walked past these abominations without batting an eye if they had been fully human. But adding the Reaper virus to the equation somehow made each and every one of them more terrifying than the last. Gabriel was a complete and utter madman, meddling with things that even God Himself would fear to tread. 

He didn't know what kept him walking behind the mortician, what kept him even moving. It wasn't exactly the deformities that were unnerving him so greatly -- honestly, he found the unnatural to be completely fascinating. But this...Sebastian discovered that he had a limit. He didn't know if these Reapers had been born with these deformities or if Gabriel had experimented on them with wild abandon, and he didn't want to know. He found himself wanting to kill them all just put them out of their pathetic misery.

At the end of the line, they stopped at a reaper that looked perfectly normal except for the heavy bloating in its stomach. It was once a woman in life, but now was an undead, flesh-eating monster. Sebastian stared at it, wondering what on earth was causing such bloating to occur -- his best guess was trapped gasses combined with the mortician's experimentation.

"...Ripe?" he repeated quietly, unable to take his eyes off her in much the same way one observed a train wreck.

Gabriel just handed him a knife that Sebastian hadn't known he was carrying. "Yes. You wish to help, don't you?" he asked, the knife glinting in the light. "Make one long laceration across her lower abdomen, if you please."

With a slightly trembling hand, Sebastian took it, not knowing why the hell he was even considering obeying. "What'll happen?" he asked, throat tight. "Will she explode, too?"

"You'll see~ yes, you will see~" Gabriel backed off a touch, lest she spill over his shoes.   
The female Reaper took up a most dreadful howl, even worse than the explosive one.

Sebastian hated the way she thrashed in her chains; it was obvious she was already in some considerable pain, doubtless from her bloating. The raven knelt down and pressed the scalpel to her abdomen, resulting in an even more unearthly howl than the last. When he pushed the knife inside and slit her belly open, the last thing he expected was for a fetus to slip into his gloved hands.

"W-wh..."

This fetus was horribly deformed. Its eyes were large, red, and bulging. Its lips were large and froglike, and tumors sprouted all over its body. This included a series of crab-like legs sprouting from its back. An awful screaming rang out from the baby, and it began snapping at Sebastian, aiming for his fingers. 

"It's beautiful!" crowed Gabriel, as the post-natal Reaper spilled her guts on the floor.

When the baby -- not even a baby; another monster -- began snapping, Sebastian dropped it at once, staggering back and giving it a wide berth. Its skull cracked open upon impact with the floor, and Sebastian threw the knife away and fled. He tore his gloves and apron off as he ran -- for his life, it felt like -- discarding them as he went. He practically clawed the morgue's exit doors open and tore back upstairs, pale as a sheet. He burst past startled nurses and didn't stop running until he'd made it back to his and William's room, immediately burying himself under the bedcovers.

He'd never seen horrors like he'd just seen in the morgue. Ripe, he'd called her. That man was the Devil. Sebastian had never been so fucking afraid of a human being in his life, and never wanted to go anywhere near the morgue again. Gabriel Giltine would have to find some other poor bastard for his experiments.

The baby's head seemed to burst on the ground, and the shrieking creature scuttled away on the crab legs sprouting from its back. Gabriel, wheezing with laughter the whole time, caught it and took it away, locking the room up behind its many doors. 

This one was perfect, and he had the morgue to himself again. 

Excellent.


	14. The Wall

William startled out of bed when Sebastian leapt into his own, whiter than William had ever seen him, with the possible exception of when they'd met the evolved Reaper. 

"Sebastian?!"

Sebastian couldn't speak, just holding the bedsheets tightly around himself. He knew if he closed his eyes, he'd only see those abominations. His whole sense of self was collapsing in on itself -- he was nowhere near as strong and detached as he thought he was. He was weak. A child, a coward, pretending to be much bigger than he really was. A second internal crisis in about a month, and his brain didn't know what to do. He breathed hard from his running, shaking badly.

William got off his palette quickly, approaching the ex-convict. "What happened?!" he demanded, fear creeping into his voice. 

"Was there another Abnormal? Were you attacked?!" 

...What could do this to Sebastian? The man was terrified. "Deep breaths, come on, talk to me...!"

Slowly, mechanically, Sebastian shook his head. It was about all he was capable of besides breathing. He desperately wanted alcohol and tobacco and anything else that could wipe his conscious mind clean for a little while, but no such things were to be found in this hospital.

William could only sit by the man and urge him to calm down. He wrapped an arm around him, his own body still warm from the nap he was taking. "Is there not a thing I can do?" asked William. "I can find a solution for your problem, surely, if you would just confide in me."

"No," Sebastian heard himself whisper, clutching tightly to William. "Not even you...not even you can stop me from seeing those things." His voice was hoarse and tremulous, nowhere near his usual self, whatever that was. Whatever was left of his 'usual' self. "Don't go in the morgue. D-don't..."

William fell silent for a few moments. "We weren't suppose to go into the morgue," he said lowly. "The mortician does not like to be disturbed." He could smell vomit on Sebastian's breath, too. It was awful. 

"Come now, drink some water. You'll feel better. Take a nap."

Sebastian shuddered, like a deep shiver. "Don't talk about him," he uttered fearfully. "That devil." He didn't want to take a nap, either; he knew with complete certainty that he would only have nightmares. It would be no refuge in sleep.

"Uh..." William glanced around. "Did he touch you...?" he asked quietly, looking him over for signs of harassment.

Sebastian shook his head again, breathing shakily. "No...no, he didn't..." he breathed, finally glancing up at William. "J-just -- don't...please," he whispered.

William nodded. It was tempting to comfort the poor man physically. He knew he needed it. "I won't go to the morgue," he assured him. Though he'd sure as hell try to find out what was inside. He was a scientist...that was his nature. He caught Sebastian's hand and have it a gentle squeeze.

Sebastian grasped William's hand tightly, desperate for its warmth and gentleness, something he'd been craving without even realizing it. He finally squeezed his eyes shut, and luckily, William was still all that was in his mind's eye. "I'm sorry...I thought I was stronger...I'm sorry that I'm weak," he whispered. It was so difficult to say, but he was so damn distressed by everything that he didn't even care. Might as well go the whole hog and destroy his entire self-image and self-esteem while he was at it.

"What...?" William leaned in closer to him. "What...makes you think you're weak? Being afraid does not make you weak, it makes you smart." Sebastian was clearly very shaken by whatever had happened in the morgue, and William could do little but offer words of reassurance.

Sebastian shook his head, pulling closer to William. "I'm not supposed to be afraid," he muttered. "I'm supposed to be the tough one. I don't get afraid. And now...twice in just a matter of days..." he trailed off, too ashamed of himself to continue.

"How could you not have been afraid of that?" William uttered. "Come on...it was an immensely powerful monster in our very own dwelling. You do get afraid, the sooner you come to terms with that, the better off you'll be. You're not the heartless thing they say you are....what you're feeling is normal, alright?" He pressed a little kiss to his hair.

The raven glanced up at him. "I don't even...know how to deal with it," he admitted. "When I thought you were going to leave...I was afraid, and that's why I drank so much." He shuddered and sighed. "...What I'd give for some Scotch right now...I want to forget what I saw."

"Maybe those nurses enlightened me to the location of the alcohol stash," said William.  "Would you like me to find you something to drink? ...Just so you feel better, alright? Just this time."

Sebastian pushed his long hair back, mouth dry, and nodded. "Bastard in my lab's probably drinking everything," he replied hoarsely.

William came back a short while later with some scotch and two glasses. He didn't even like scotch that much, but he'd spent all day going through tedious research files and he was finished with his work.

Sebastian filled one of the glasses and knocked it back in seconds, exhaling sharply once he'd swallowed, feeling the sting of the drink in his throat and in his belly. 

Some of the color had returned to his face, and he wasn't so tremulous now, but he still looked and felt exhausted and thoroughly spooked. "Thanks, William," he said quietly, filling the glass again, slowly this time.

William gave him a little nod as he sipped lightly at his own glass. "Don't mention it," he replied, giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze. "...Are you sure you don't want to tell me what...what you saw in there?" he asked. "I'm awfully curious."

Sebastian gripped his glass a little more tightly, pursing his lips. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know," he replied very quietly, taking a slow sip. "Either way...I don't know if you'd even believe me."

William gave him a look. "Why wouldn't I? What reason would you have to lie to me? You've already taken a blow to your dignity."

"I didn't even believe my own eyes at first," Sebastian murmured, pulling his boots off and drawing his knees up to his chin. "That man...he's...he does things...to the Reapers."

William blanched a bit. "Oh, Christ. He doesn't fuck them, does he?" he uttered, feeling bile rise in his throat at the mere thought. 'Reaperphiles', he would call them. Did such depraved beings exist?

Sebastian made a bit of a disgusted sound at the idea of it. "I don't know for sure, but I really wouldn't be surprised. No...he's done...experiments with them. I have no idea what. If they were human and looked like that before they were Reapers, or if he just...I don't know, sewed parts on them at random. I mean...they were even more monstrous than the thing back at the lab."

"What sort of experiments?" William found himself uttering. "We never had live ones to work on. They often died when we caught them, for some reason...the research opportunities..." He looked longingly towards the morgue.

Sebastian shook his head more urgently this time. "Please...don't," he uttered miserably. He quickly had another sip of his scotch. "Please just take it from me," he whispered after a moment. "Think about the things I've done. What I've done is child's play compared to what he's doing. Don't go looking for them. I shouldn't have even told you anything."

"You've just made it worse," declared William pompously, matching his sip. "Deter me now or I'll go and see for myself."

This was the last thing Sebastian wanted, so he looked seriously up at William, reaching for his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "If I tell you, promise me you won't try to see them in person," he said quietly.

"Tell me why I don't want to see the results of experimentation on live Reapers," William announced, turning to him. "...I can't promise you that, but I will try my best to stay away from the area."

"It won't help you," Sebastian whispered. "They're monsters; he's playing with them." To the best of his ability, he tried to describe what he had seen, smelled, done, in the presence of that madman.

William had gagged once or twice at Sebastian's descriptive imagery-- the way the rotting flesh dropped off the bones of the deceased in stinking wet chunks, the oozing pus, and worst of all, the deformed Reapers. It was not the story he'd been expecting. The baby was the worst of it, he was almost sick himself just hearing about the horrific little monster. 

"Just-- okay, that's enough," he muttered, getting out his water bottle. The scientist had gone rather green by now. "That's awful....so awful...I think I might...christ...."

Sebastian quickly knocked back the rest of his drink and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "I told you," he whispered. "It's better off not being seen. I'd rather forget about it and just look the other way if anyone mentions him."

"Sympathetic fucking creature," William uttered, still glancing around for something to throw up in. He had a much more delicate constitution than Sebastian did. In the end he chose to lay back on his bed and wait for his stomach to settle.

Sebastian took the bottle of scotch and laid down with it, not bothering with the glass again. "I don't know why I stayed," he muttered. "Why I had to bother him. I'll do any work around here except anything for him."

"You're ignoring me aren't you, arsehole," William snipped, turning to face the glass wall and its shutters. "Let it haunt your dreams then."

"I'm not," Sebastian replied shortly after taking a long draught from the bottle. "You asked, and I delivered. I'm not exactly well-equipped to comfort anyone. And you didn't see them, smell them."

"Nice to see you're capable of returning the favor. You nearly made me lose my lunch." Now irritated, William left the room to find a bathroom and splash his face with water, and he decided to find something else to do than return to Sebastian.

"And now you're blaming me!" Sebastian said hotly after him, sullenly hiding under his blankets again. His heart raced with anger and upset, and it just drove him to drink even more. He wanted to be able to comfort William. That had hurt; he'd wanted to return the favor. He was very upset with himself again, on top of all his fear. He didn't intend to offend, not William.

William went and sought out Ronald Knox. He found the man in the employee lounge, where he liked to chat with other survivors. 

"May I sit with you awhile?" he asked the friendly lad. The color hadnt quite come back to his face yet.

Ronald was intensely studying a book, scribbling into its margins, but he looked up when he heard William. He was a little alarmed at how ill he looked, but offered him a smile and a nod. "Yeah, of course," he replied, patting the seat next to him. "Is something wrong? You look sick..."

"I'll be okay," William assured him. He certainly regretted the alcohol. Should have let the man wallow in misery. 

Taking a sip of his water, he turned to face him. "I'm just curious...my companion was invited inside the morgue, or rather he forced himself in. What he saw made me ill to even hear the tale second hand. What...do you know about the man who works there?"

Ronald froze for just a split second, his grip on his book tightening just like Sebastian's had on his drink. He avoided William's gaze for a moment, clearly uncomfortable, but forced himself to meet his eyes. "To stay away if you can," he said very quietly, his usual good cheer vanished. "Gabriel Giltine...was the only mortician we could find to take care of our dead. He offered to research them, humans and Infected alike, b-but..." He swallowed and shook his head. "Don't tell anyone what you know," he said suddenly. "It can't leave this place."

William glanced away. 

"I don't mean to intrude on anyone's private affairs...but...my interest is purely scientific. If I had access to live Reapers in controlled, sanitary conditions...I could continue my research."

Ronald gave William a frightened look. "Your research?" he asked carefully, uncertainly. "What kind...?"

"I search for...for a cure," William said quietly. "I worked in a bunker with a team of scientists until we were betrayed..."

The blond visibly relaxed upon hearing this, exhaling slowly. "Oh...I see," he replied somberly. "I'm sorry to hear that. Mr. Sebastian said you were a chemist, but I didn't realize you were working on a cure." He put his hands in his lap and twiddled his thumbs.

"...What did you think I was?" asked William. "Do you think I could be possibly any madder a scientist than Gabriel Giltine? No...I wouldn't call him a scientist. He's a madman."

Ronald nodded apologetically. "That's a better way to describe him," he agreed. "I...don't want to know what's in his head. What he makes is monstrous enough. But...no, if I think about it rationally, you're too normal, too kind to be anything like the man in the morgue. I'm glad that you're looking for a cure. That's what everyone wants most, and someone like you could definitely do it."

William nodded graciously. "Thank you, Ronald Knox. It appears...I'm not very good at much else that's useful. I'm not strong, like Sebastian. I'm honestly rather craven. So I'm glad I can do this, at least."

Ronald rested his hands on his knees in neat little fists and swung his legs back and forth. "No, you're worth more than that, I think," he offered earnestly, giving him a smile. "I've already heard tell of how you've helped around the hospital, fixed a couple things, kept people company. People already like you! I mean...I like you; you're a really likeable person," he added shyly, blushing just a little. "The cure is definitely important, but keeping peoples' hopes up is important too."

William smiled, just a touch. Ronald's kindness was appreciated. "I'm not really...I've been told that I'm bitter and cold," he said with a smirk. "The cure comes before friends, but...I can't deny I miss the people I lost."

Ronald's smile became very sympathetic. He stopped swinging his legs and gently rested a hand on William's back. "We all do," he said softly. "That's definitely something you can't easily get over, I know. If, um...if you ever need someone to talk to, especially about that, I'd be happy to help you."

William closed his eyes. For just a moment he remembered the way Agni touched his back, short minutes before they'd made soft, gentle love. "I appreciate it. Though if Sebastian knew I was talking to a shrink, I'd never hear the end of it."

Ronald smiled, though just a little mischievously. "You shouldn't have to worry about what he thinks if it's for your well-being," he replied. "Besides...I plan to do a lot of talking to him, too. I've calmed down since our initial meeting and I've got some ideas to get him to warm up to the idea. It'll be fine, even if he doesn't talk to me. Because I understand, and I'd never force anyone into therapy. But...back to the main point, please don't worry about what he thinks. I'll give you my ear any time you need it."

William raised an eyebrow. "Pray tell what these ideas might be?" he asked, leaning back against the couch. He then had a better idea and got up to get a warm can of soda from one of the nearby crates.

Ronald brightened at the fact that William was interested. "Well, it's more like one main idea," he explained. "During my research, I've noticed that most people, even the quietest ones, even those on the Autism spectrum with disorders like Asperger's Syndrome, will open up if you strike up a conversation on a topic they're particularly passionate about. If you bring up something a person loves beyond reason, they're almost guaranteed to talk for miles about it, especially if the conversation partner is interested in the subject as well. So, from there, if I find something Sebastian really enjoys, I'm pretty confident that I can gain his trust and slowly move onto other topics; namely himself. His past, what's going on in his head, how he's feeling, things like that. If a bond is formed over a mutually enjoyed subject, it'll be easier to get to that."

William was slightly surprised. "Well, you're a smart little thing," he said amiably. "I wish you good luck with that. Who knows, it might actually work. And then you can get into the topics you're interested in, like the murders, I presume?"

Ronald laughed modestly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, if he's willing to talk about it," he replied. "I mean...everyone kind of wonders about his motivations for them. They were so bizarre and he's never let on why he did them."

This piqued William's interests. Murder didn't always need a motive, but serial murders often did. "I wonder if he'd tell me...I'm a little curious now."

"He might," Ronald replied with a shrug. "I mean...you're the person closest to him, so it's possible he could tell you his motivations if you asked him."

"Well, it won't happen today, I don't think. He's rather displeased with me, I'd say. Thankyou for the chat, Ronald. I feel a little better now," William announced, climbing to his feet.

Ronald nodded a little, and stood up politely before William left. "You're welcome," he replied softly. "Just, uh...can I asked why he's displeased? Is it something I can help with?"

William's gaze softened. "You can't help with everything, Ronald Knox." He touched his shoulder. He thought he was slowly getting better at physical contact. 

Saying not another word to Ronald, William Spears departed. 

The rest of the day and night passed without event. Sebastian refused to leave his and William's room, blatantly ignoring Eric's orders to return to the morgue. The only way Sebastian planned on returning to that morgue was as a corpse, himself, and hopefully Gabriel Giltine would be dead by then and he wouldn't have to worry about becoming a plaything for the madman. He stayed relatively calm by going through his cat magazine again, wishing very much that he had a real one to hold and stroke, listening to content purring. 

But he didn't, and he'd just have to cope. By the next day, though, he was very bored and one cat magazine could only hold his complete interest for so long. Luckily, that haze was broken through when an alarm went off throughout the entire hospital, an ear-grating klaxon. 

He bolted upright in his bed, threw his shoes on, and left the room to see what was happening.

William had been spending time with a sickly scientist named Alan Humphries. Alan had been conducting research of his own until illness left him permanently bedridden. Nonetheless, when he was awake he was quite good company, a sweet and gentle, as well as highly intelligent companion. 

Alan also happened to be Eric's life partner. It was no small wonder Eric was so firm about keeping the hospital protected. 

William startled when the klaxon went off, and Eric came running into the room. 

Large steel grates started sliding down over the windows, blocking them from intruders. 

"What's going on?!" William asked as he was tossed a shotgun. 

"We've got Infected incoming!"

William didn't quite understand the danger. "...surely we can handle a few.." 

"They come in packs here, newbie. Load up and hit the wall. I'm taking Alan to the bunker."

Sebastian arrived in time to hear that there were Reapers coming. "Which way?" he asked, breathing hard from his running. "Which way -- I need a gun too," he gasped, joining William's side.

Eric turned his assault rifle on Sebastian. "You do not get a gun, lad," he said definitively, then wheeled his beloved away. 

The wall was a large structure encircling the hospital. It was thick enough for two men to walk abreast. William had been shown where it was. "Come on," said William, and tugged Sebastian away.

Needless to say, Sebastian wasn't pleased to be denied a firearm to help drive back the Infected. "Damned dirty Scot," he muttered under his breath. "I haven't even done anything here; I'm a brilliant shot and I could save them a hell of a lot of bullets..."

William ignored him for the time being. All able bodied men, and some women, had joined them on the wall. There were about thirty people in the hospital, and most of them were out here.   
They hurried up a series of wooden steps, while a  few other men leapt from the second story windows. It was not a huge jump, though William would never have done it. 

Standing atop the wall, the ledge came up to William's waist. 

"Load up!" someone called out. "Here they come!"

And then William saw them.

Sebastian had never seen so many Reapers in one group. There had to be at least two hundred of them, all running -- not just running, but galloping, some on all fours, clawing over and trampling each other, surging blindly forward as one single entity. And they were running for the hospital, as if driven there by madness. Sebastian gaped at them for a moment before glancing questioningly at William, wondering if he had ever seen so many at once, before he looked back down at the group. His trigger fingers were twitching; even from this distance he could have been picking them off with an assault rifle. 

He watched in frustration as a young man struggled with his enormous gun, barely able to hold it, much less shoot it. He watched the boy fire and miss at least seven times before he lost patience, swooped down and snatched the gun away, snapped "Damn it, learn to shoot before you try to kill these bastards, don't waste bullets!" and immediately began shooting Reapers down one after the other.

"Sebastian," William warned, but there was no stopping him, and there were more important matters at hand. Some of the men were more experienced shots, which was a relief. William wasn't that good, but he took a few down, too. When he paused to reload, he saw Gabriel Giltine himself up on the second floor, with a sniper rifle poking out the window. Eric came out and manned the machine gone, while some of the less gifted marksmen lobbed grenades at the approaching pack. 

They exploded in a spray of blood, but more kept coming. 

"Why do they come here?!" William asked, and his knees were shaking. They looked so determined...like the ones who took the bunker from him. 

Maybe so many people required a large group to overcome. But surely they weren't intelligent enough to plan that....?!

Sebastian adjusted the assault rifle on his shoulder. "Hell if I know," he responded above the gunfire. "But look at them. They almost look human, don't they? But they're definitely Infected..."

It was true; they had that pale, rotten look, and some were missing arms or had their guts spilling out of their stomachs. No human would be running like that. But there was something in their faces, beyond that blank, empty look most of them had. Determination.

The creatures hit the wall, tearing and ripping at the metal plates rabidly. William took a fearful step back when a large thud shook the wall. They were going to rip it down and be eaten. They were so close, he could smell them.  

"Blow their rotten brains out!" someone shouted, and there was a cheer. 

From the other side of the wall, someone was cackling wildly. They had their cock out and were pissing on the oblivious creatures below while his friends laughed on and shot them. 

'How could they be fooling around like this?!' William thought, horrified. 

And then there came an immense roar. William knew it all too well, from that day in the lab.   
"Abnormal!" someone shouted, when the immense Reaper lumbered into sight.

Sebastian felt his skin crawl when he heard the monster's roar. How dare any of these people act so idiotic when these bastards were so close? It would serve them all damn right if they fell prey to the monsters. 

He cocked his gun and aimed right for the Abnormal's face, blowing it full of bullets much larger and more powerful than the handgun he'd used in the lab. He didn't focus solely on it, having no idea if it would even slow down from an assault rifle, and it was difficult to see clearly amid all the gunsmoke, so he just fired wherever he could. "Where's a bomb when you need one?" he muttered behind gritted teeth.

It lurched down the open street, flying right for them. 

"Kill the big one!" 

"Blow its head off!" 

"Where's the RPG?"

William was fiddling with the shells of his shotgun with trembling fingers when there came an immense boom. The evolved Reaper slammed so hard into their Wall that the foundations wobbled, a few men toppled back over the side to the ground nearly twelve feet below. 

William dropped his gun in the shock of the impact, and it clattered to the ground. Just like that he dropped to his knees, hiding behind the ledge while the last of his courage ran down his leg.   
His bravery had run its course; he couldn’t do it anymore.

"It's too close for the rocket launcher!"

"Shoot it between the eyes!" braver men than William the scientist would call out.

Sebastian lost his balance, as well, staggering down beside William, but luckily, he did not fall. He glanced down at the scientist, noting his physical fear, and put a hand on his back for a moment. "I won't let it hurt you," he murmured fiercely. He gave William's hair a stroke and lifted the gun back up, firing after the beast once more, aiming for between its eyes like the men were calling out. 

There was a piercing, high-pitched whine of a small rocket being launched, and said weapon plowed right into the Abnormal's chest before exploding, spraying the narrow alley with blood and gore. Even with such a massive cavity in its chest, the behemoth still kept moving.

"What the fuck are those things made of?!" Sebastian cursed as he fired after it. "How is it still even in one piece?!"

Eric's machine gun had exhausted its supply of ammunition. He called out for something, and a man on the ground tossed him a large and heavy weapon. 

"Let's see this fucker burn," the Scotsman announced, then launched the flamethrower. Fire poured out over the abnormal one snapping and pounding at their gate. It had already ripped a decent-sized hole in their defenses, through which straggling  Reapers attempted to get through. 

When the fire hit it, the creature reared back, shrieking. Mr. Giltine then got a powerful shot right between the eyes, and the monster fell backwards, crushing a few reapers as it went.

There were a few men at the gate holding the Reapers back, including Ronald, whose weapon of choice was an axe. With surprising strength, he was able to bury it deep into the Reapers' skulls and drive them off, letting them pile up on top of each other. With that advantage, he daringly slipped through and began hacking at all the reapers that had been set aflame.

"What?! Idiot, you can't drive that many off with just an axe -- " Sebastian exclaimed, lurching up to his feet. He finally left William's side and leaped down from the wall, hitting the ground hard, but getting up again quickly. He cleared his path with a spray of bullets, downing Reapers left and right. 

Just as he got to Ronald, the Abnormal lurched up for one final attempt in an attack, lunging forward with every intention of biting Ronald Knox's head clean off. Ronald froze, his grin wiped off his face, having not expected the monster to get up again. Sebastian shoved him down and hefted up the gun, pointing it at the Abnormal's face, just as its enormous mouth closed over the barrel. 

Sebastian squeezed the trigger, and like that, its brains sprayed out the back of its head and it fell back for good, falling one last time with an incredible crash. It was dead for certain this time. Ronald lay panting on the ground, staring at the fallen Abnormal in shock for a moment before Sebastian yanked him back up to his feet.

"Idiot. Get back behind the gate and don't try that again," he hissed. "You nearly died." 

Too afraid to argue, Ronald meekly obeyed and hurried back behind the gates to join his comrades, fighting the remaining scattered Reapers from there.

It didn't take long to clean up the stragglers. 

Eric was giving commands. "Giltine, take your pick!" he called to the mortician on the second floor. Gabriel clapped his hands gleefully. "The Abnormal, if you please, and a Reaper not too bloodied!~"

"You heard the man. Bring them in. Burn the rest."

Someone nudged William. "Are you injured, Doctor?" 

"No, he's just a coward," said another contemptuously-- a friend of the man who had pissed off the wall. 

William had gone a deep red with shame, and saw fit to trudge back inside while the others cleaned up.

Sebastian climbed back up the wall to look for William and make sure he was all right. He handed the assault rifle back to the young man he'd taken it from, seeing fit to roughly elbow the man who dared insult William as he passed him. 

He spotted him quickly enough and caught up to him, putting an arm to William's shoulder. "William, what happened?" he asked quietly.

William didn't wish to speak, and he brushed his arm away. "Not now," he said bluntly, though he tried to soften his tone a little before picking up pace and hurrying inside. 

Eric caught up to Sebastian and whirled him around. "....I told ye not to carry a gun," he said darkly...then his expression changed. "But you did good, 'n saved Ronnie, so...guess you've earned ye place."

Sebastian stared numbly after William, feeling rejected and unappreciated for his efforts. It was no small wonder that, when he was confronted by Eric, he was not pleased at all, even if he had finally won some approval. He brushed Eric's hand off just as William had done to him.

"Listen," he said quietly, eyes narrowed. "You've got a hell of a lot of idiots out there who aren't taking this shit seriously and just act like it's a game. We don't have time to jeer and piss on them; it's not gonna mean a damn thing to the Reapers and it just makes your men look like idiotic frat boys. And what in God's name is going through your head when you're sending out kids who can barely lift the guns they can't even shoot?” he demanded.   
“You're wasting your bullets that way and it's making you look pretty fucking bad. You need to shape up your men, because Ronald only needed saving because he was being a goddamn idiot. You never assume your enemy is down. You've got shit to do."

Eric's friendly expression changed, and for a second he looked like he was going to hit him. When he spoke, his voice was cold and stiff.   
"You heard Giltine. Get your arse out there and help wrap up that big one."

Sebastian glared at him and turned away, beginning to walk off. "I'm not going anywhere near that madman again. The only way you're doing that is with me in a body bag."

Eric caught him. "You'll do as yer bloody well told, you murderin' lil' hypocrite. You want some discipline? When I give you an order, you follow it!" he shouted, drawing many eyes. "Or you, and your pissy little scientist can hit the fucking road. Understand?!"

Sebastian curled his hand into a tight fist, digging his nails into the palm of his hand. "Take that back right now," he said very quietly.

Eric scoffed at him. "Oh, aye? Not a part of it was a lie, Michaelis. I'll give you till the count of three, or you're going straight out that gate and you're not comin' back."

Everyone was watching now, some had guns raised warily.

The raven, not looking at him, or even in his general direction, raised his tight fists and cracked his knuckles slowly, each joint giving a satisfying pop. "That's not true," he replied darkly. "Don't you dare call him a pissy little scientist. He's worth five of you. Take it back right now."

"You don't give the orders here," said Eric coldly. "Get out there. And do. As you're told." He pointed to the gate. 

"That's one. ...two."

A redhead latched on to Sebastian's arm-- it was Micah the Irishman. "Come 'long," he said worriedly. "Le's not get into n-needless fights, no." He began pulling Sebastian along to the gate. "Ain't worth it, boyo."

Sebastian yanked his arm back; there was no way in Hell he was going back to Gabriel Giltine or let this son of a bitch insult his only friend. "TAKE IT BACK!" he bellowed, rounding up on the Scotsman. The words exploded from the bottom of his lungs and reverberated in the small space. He was breathing hard now, livid, heart racing with ire.

Eric turned his back on Sebastian. "That's three. Take 'im out," he ordered coldly. Since Sebastian was not armed, and everybody else was, they approached him without fear.

Sebastian may have been livid, but he wasn't an idiot. He let the cowards take him without a fight, holding his head high and haughty. He looked down on Eric and made sure he knew it, practically letting himself out the door. Oh, he'd make Eric pay, for sure, later on. But damned if he wasn't going to defend William's honor.

Sebastian was taken out and guarded until everyone had finished their business. Some other poor souls had to deliver to Giltine. 

Then the raven was left alone outside the walls of the hospital. 

Eric had gone inside and put a nasty dent in the plaster wall, swearing loudly.   
He gathered his men and marched them off to the gym, where he trained them relentlessly for the next few hours.

Ronald Knox had witnessed the entire fiasco with disbelieving eyes, certain that the convict would have resorted to violence. He'd never seen Eric so pissed off in all the time he'd known him, either, and watched in awe as the raven let himself out. He meant to find William and tell him what happened right away, but he was forced along to the gym to train like he never had before.

When he was finally let out, sweating heavily and exhausted, he limped his way to William's room, hoping like Hell that the scientist was there, and knocked weakly on the door.

William had showered for a lengthy amount of time, scrubbing at his skin until it was red and he was as clean as he was going to get. It was almost as if he was attempting to wash away all the guilt and shame he'd felt from today...but alas, it remained with him still. 

When he was dressed, William came to the door and opened it just a crack. "...Ronald Knox. What do you want?"

Ronald wiped his forehead with his sleeve, his sore limbs shaking a little. "Ahh -- er -- t-that is, well," he stammered uncertainly. He hadn't thought out how best to tell William. "Eric...kicked Sebastian out..."

William stepped back a bit from the smell of sweat, but opened the door. It was then that the words set in. "...I beg your pardon? Whatever for?!"

Urgently, Ronald told William what had happened. "I dunno what set him off, but he just ripped Eric a new one," he uttered in a hushed voice. "Started talking about how he was a terrible leader and stuff, how embarrassin' his men were acting today and things like that -- never even looked him in the eye or anything! Eric tried to make him go help ...help Mr. Giltine pack up some of the Reaper bodies, and he insulted you, and Mr. Sebastian just got really quiet and told Eric to take it back."

William looked terribly exasperated. "The stubborn fool," he exclaimed, stalking back into his room. "Goddamn it, why...?! We were just starting to find a place here, and...." It did not surprise him, considering how pitiful he'd been today, that tears stung his eyes. 

He knelt to begin packing his things, even though every part of him wanted to stay.

Ronald hovered uncertainly outside. "W...wait, why are you leaving?" he asked in alarm. "Aren't you going to try to talk some sense into Eric? I mean, Sebastian was right about everything -- I -- I was an idiot out there, and he saved my life, and he never even laid a finger on Eric except to get his hands off! I mean -- I thought for sure he was going to clock Eric in the nose, but...all he seemed to care about was you."

William looked up slowly. "But it makes sense, doesn't it? Sebastian refused to obey orders not a minute after chastising Eric over his unruly men. Sebastian was wrong, and defending my honor was foolish, but I cannot leave his side."   
He sighed, rubbing tired eyes. "Eric would not listen to me, surely."

"You're a lot more reasonable than Sebastian is," Ronald urged him, gesticulating wildly and then holding his head in his hands in exasperation. He sighed heavily and then spoke. "I mean...I don't...I really don't think Sebastian considers himself under Eric's rule. You're the only person Sebastian will listen to, so it's possible he didn't see himself as disobeying, exactly. All he wanted was for Eric to take back what he said about you."

William dropped his things impatiently. "Then it is on me," he muttered. "Who else is there to blame, really?" He glanced at Ronald. 

"You're coming with me." 

\--

"Michaelis? The Reapers take him," Eric cursed. "I won't have 'im. I won't. And honestly I've half a mind to send a coward like you out with him."

William had the grace to blush.

"Oh, come on!" Ronald cried in exasperation to Eric. "Sebastian is the best shot we've ever had, he saved my life, and he didn't lay a finger on you!" He aggressively counted these off on his fingers. "He protected this place and you told him yourself he earned his place! Yeah, he was rude as all hell in response, but you're supposed to protect the people in this hospital, including him! I dunno, punish him by putting him in the basement for a day if you take him back. What kind of a person pushes a man out there unarmed?"

He quickly added, "And Dr. Spears isn't a coward! He fought too, as best he could!"

Eric scowled. "I offered that bastard my hand in friendship and he threw it in my face. Are you going to impugn my honor, too, now, Ronald?" There was a note of hurt in his voice. 

"Eric is right," William muttered. "I am what I am. But please, Mr. Slingby...name your conditions for Sebastian's return. I promise they will be fulfilled."

Ronald flushed a little, out of shame. "W-well -- no, but -- I don't mean to. I just -- " He exhaled slowly, trying to sort out his thoughts. "I'm going to say this as a psych. Sebastian has a lot on his plate and as far as I can tell, he isn't a sociopath and does have plenty of room for improvement. I don't claim to know what was going through his head when he spoke to you like that but -- from his perspective, you've never liked him and it's hard for someone, especially like him, to accept a sudden gesture of friendship. He was probably suspicious and literally didn't know how else to react."

He looked unhappily up at William at this offer -- literally anything could go wrong here, like William being sent out instead.

"To Hell with the nutcase. We don't need fuckin' serial murderers in our shelter. You want 'im back amongst my friends an' family? My conditions're thus: He obeys orders given to 'im by anyone here, less it conflicts with a superior order. He does his body collection for Giltine, same as before. An' 'e 'as to apologize for bein' a cunt. And Will...? He says no to any o'these...don't bother comin' back."

William's heart sank. 

The Irishman began to cry softly. "I tried to 'elp," he wept. "I did..."

Ronald shook his head and pulled Micah into a gentle hug. "Hey, no, Micah, it's not your fault. I know you tried. It's okay." He glanced up at William -- he knew that Sebastian would never agree to those terms. He wasn't going to be seeing William or Sebastian again, and it made his heart break. He already liked them more than a lot, despite their short time being there.

William stared at his feet. Now poor, sweet Micah was upset, and so was Ronald. William had to try and bring Sebastian back...maybe there was a home for them, here.   
"I'll do my best," he said firmly, adjusting his glasses and straightening his spine.

Ronald really didn't have much hope at all; he'd already met Sebastian and seen his behavior firsthand, and didn't think there would be any convincing him to agree to Eric's terms. Nevertheless, he replied to William, "I know you will." His tone was soft and sad. "Best of luck to you, Dr. Spears."

William shook his hand, and that of Micah's. Eric stared hard at him, but William knew he had to be hard to keep such an establishment together. He nodded to him, and two men went with him to let him out the front gate once he'd packed his backpack. He hoped that Sebastian wouldn't have wandered too far-- William had already used up his bravery for the day, and it was getting dark.

Luckily for him, Sebastian hadn't. He'd been driven off the hospital property with nothing but his jacket, and he was sitting on the curb on the side of the street across from the hospital's south entrance. He was trying to think of what to do and where to go until he could get some new guns and ammunition and get back into his laboratory. He knew how to kill the Abnormals now, and he wasn't afraid of it any longer. For now, he just needed a plan.

It had started to snow very lightly, flurries brushing past him and snowflakes building up in his hair. He supposed he'd have to get moving soon if he didn't want to freeze.

William sighted him soon enough, and he broke into a run the moment he saw him. "Sebastian...!" he called, almost stumbling in his hurry to reach his side. "Sebastian, I would have come sooner if I had known. I apologize."

Sebastian saw William coming and leaped to his feet in alarm, his first thought being that the scientist had gotten kicked out as well. "N...no, it's not your fault," he replied quietly. "Just mine. They didn't -- if that Scot bastard kicked you out too -- "

William touched his arm lightly. The sense of loneliness he'd felt since departing his side now disappeared. "He has not kicked me out. I've come to convince you to come back. Eric has his conditions, however: You must obey all orders given to you, unless they conflict with an order from a superior. You must resume your work, bringing bodies in for Gabriel Giltine. And..you must apologize." 

He squeezed his arm lightly, shivering in the snow. "He'll let you come back if you do this."

The convict avoided William's gaze now and set his jaw. "...I'd rather die than work for Giltine again," he muttered. "There's just absolutely no way in Hell that I'm going back down there, anywhere near the morgue. And Eric can go fuck himself if he thinks I need apologizing. He's got no business calling himself a leader when his men act like that."

William knew this was coming. "You don't have to go into the morgue. All you have to do is drop off the bodies. And please...lowering your pride for just a few moments so we can have a safe place to stay is worth it, don't you think?"

Sebastian clenched his fists together. "...'We'?" he echoed. "So my decision hinges on your safety too? Hell, I'll leave if it means you can stay and keep being helpful and likeable but there's not a goddamn person in there who wants me in there and staying around. I can manage, but they'll need you here."

"I will need you here," William snapped, going rather red in the face. "I gave up a lot to stay with you, Sebastian. Now I want you to do the same, to stay with me. Otherwise..." He shuffled his backpack. "I'm...coming anyway."

"I didn't do anything wrong," Sebastian muttered. "I won't apologize to him. I won't bring more toys for that madman to play with. But I don't...want to put you in danger. You're safer here, and have a better chance of working on the cure than out on the road with me."

"I know that, so just do it, goddamn it! Is this how badly you wished for us to stick together? Is it?!" William had lost his temper, and grabbed Sebastian's shirt. "Come back with me."

Sebastian staggered forward a little when his shirt was grabbed. His heart was stabbed again; he wanted more than anything to stay with William, but not in that damn hospital. He wanted to stay with him in the safety and security of the laboratory bunker. They could make its doors even more secure than before. Apologizing to Eric could be a breeze compared to going back to the morgue. He just really didn't know if he could even take it. Remembering what was even down there made him shudder and he was still reeling from his self-identity being completely uprooted the way it had. 

"I want to stay with you," he whispered, at last, "But...but not there. Anywhere but there."

"You said it yourself," said William. "I can work on a cure here. I can't do that in the lab. I can't go back without you, Eric said it himself. So..." He left the sentence hanging, staring him down. "Make your choice."

Sebastian dropped his gaze again, biting down on his lip. He turned everything over in his head a thousand times before he could make his decision. He wasn't sorry, so he'd just give an insincere apology. One way or another, he'd make Eric apologize for what he said about William; that'd be his term for return if he expected orders to be obeyed. He'd make body dropoffs in the basement and make Gabriel retrieve them himself.

And yet...

"I must be completely mad for saying this," he muttered. "Just for you. Not for that twat. For you. I'll go back for you, William."

William hadn't expected this, in all honesty. Disappointment had already etched itself into his face, and it was very slow to slide away. He eyed him with caution. "...You won't...do anything to make him angry again, w-will you?" he asked, releasing his shirt.

"I can't make any guarantees I won't lose my temper again," Sebastian whispered, reaching for William's cold hands. "But I promise to try."

William took them slowly. It was an odd gesture-- intimate, but not sexual. He let out a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to leave Darwin either, now. Or Ronald, or Micah, or Alan. "Thank you. Let's get this done, then. Say your words to Eric, and then....then I can make it worth your while."

Sebastian nodded and wove their fingers together. "All right," he replied wearily. "Let's get this over with, then."

Eric was waiting when they trudged back in the gate. He had everyone gathered behind him as the two men came through in the snow. 

William bowed his head respectfully. "Sebastian has agreed to your terms, Eric," he said softly.

Sebastian met Eric's eyes coolly. "Before I say anything, though, I just want one term of my own," he said quietly and calmly. "I'd still like you to apologize to William for what you said about him. If you do that, then I'll take your terms."

Eric raised an eyebrow, then glanced to William, who was shaking his head. "What's this bullshit, then? If you won't take my terms, you and the doctor can go straight back where you came from. That's all there is to it." 

"Please," said William, "I don't care for the apology. Sebastian, you promised."

"I care," Sebastian whispered to William. "It was an insult to your honor. You're my only friend; I can't let it slide."

"No," said William, very upset. "It was deserved, and you-- you have to take his terms, Sebastian...!" 

"Will you...or will you not...do as I have asked you?" asked Eric, patience fading fast.

"I will!" Sebastian finally snapped, the tension getting to him. "I won't drop it," he whispered to William. "This matters to me. I'll agree to his terms but I won't forgive him for insulting you."

William didn't give a damn whether or not Sebastian forgave Eric, so long as he kept his mouth shut. 

"Well, lad," said Eric, spreading his arms. "...It's cold out. Get on with it."

Sebastian exhaled sharply through his nose in annoyance, creating a puff of warm air. He stared right into Eric's eyes, gathered up as convincing a tone he could muster, and announced, "I'm sorry," while in his mind he finished furiously, 'fucker'.

Eric nodded, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Mature of you, Michaelis," he responded. Blatant sarcasm, of course. "Get inside." 

And so they all went. William was undeniably exhausted, so after a brief chat with Ronald and Micah he retired to his room.

Sebastian was very much in the same mindset as William, and retreated to the small room for some quiet. He was happy to see that the cat magazine was still there, so he sank down onto his bed with it, poring over it once more.

William lay there for a while. "You're really obsessed with cats, aren't you," he eventually muttered, as he kicked off his shoes. "You'd rather go through that magazine you've read a hundred times than come and warm my bed?"

This made Sebastian actually close the magazine and set it aside, joining William on his bed instead. "I do have a strong...affinity for cats," he admitted. "But I didn't realise that this is what you wanted."

"Really?" William asked, shifting aside to let the man in. "What did you think I meant, when I said I'd make it worth your while? My charming company, perhaps? You did something that meant a lot to me today. Actually, more than once. You deserve...a little recompense." He touched the man's hair behind his ear.

"Didn't want to jump to any conclusions, after all," Sebastian murmured, wriggling his boots off and making himself comfortable. "I made a promise to you, remember? Never...without your permission."

"You can lie in my bed without asking," William replied, slipping off his outer garments and entwining his legs with Sebastian's. "The worst that could happen is you'll get kicked off." He rested his hands against the man's body and sought out his lips.

Sebastian wrestled out of his snow-dampened jacket and tossed it onto his bed and slipped his arms around William, giving the scientist what he sought. "Hmm...I'll keep that in mind, then," he murmured against his lips.

William sighed against Sebastian's lips, his hand gliding along Sebastian's cool skin. "Yes," he whispered, nipping his soft lower lip. "...God, I almost lost you today. How awful it was."

Sebastian none-too-subtly slipped his hands down to William's backside, giving him a faint smirk. "You would have missed me, too?" he asked interestedly.

William made a small sound of irritation. "We're supposed to stick together, are we not?" he muttered, as was his response every time he was asked this question. He shifted his hips downwards and rubbed against him lightly. "What you did for me today," he said after a few moments of silences and caresses, "...that was...I mean..for what it's worth, I really appreciated it.."

The raven's smirk became a more honest smile, and he pressed his lips to William's again. "That makes me happy to hear, coming from you," he said softly. He responded to the rubbing, holding William tighter against his chest. "Thank you."

William let out a small sound of pleasure as he hardened against him. "...The fact of the matter is...I need you to help me get stronger. You understand, right? You'd better stay with me, bastard." He pushed his hand inside his pants and stroked him. 

Sebastian exhaled slowly, a clear sign of pleasure from being stroked. "Yeah. Don't worry, Four Eyes, I'll stick close," he replied with a soft chuckle. "Same goes for you."

William gave him a long and appreciative kiss before sliding down the man's body, opening his trousers, and proceeding to pleasure him with his mouth and fingers, bringing warmth to the cold room.

Sebastian had never gotten pleasured by William like this before, and it was worlds better than he'd ever imagined. He moaned softly, tilting his head back and arching his back, the muscles in his stomach tensing up delightedly.

William glanced up at him occasionally, smirking a bit around Sebastian's warm cock. His breath made his glasses fog up, but he didn't need to use his eyes. 

This was the first time William had ever done this, too, so there was an initial struggle, working Sebastian past his gag reflex, but once it was done, the rest came by instinct.   
His fingers were trying something new too, rubbing Sebastian's entrance and starting to tease their way inside. William came to love what Sebastian could do with his own fingers, and he wanted to return the favor.

Sebastian's breathing quickened, and he shivered because of how good William was making him feel. Soft moans pushed past his kiss-swollen lips and he relaxed against the mattress, gently fisting the sheets. "Ohh...oh, god...that's...mmm..." he moaned quietly.

"That's right," William whispered, feeling unbelievably aroused at being in control of Sebastian. "You like it. You want more." He smiled up at him, and lowered his mouth over Sebastian's cock once more. He pushed another finger up inside him, stroking his warm, wet walls. He couldn't quite find Sebastian's sweet spot, he was embarrassed to admit, but he made up for it with oral pleasure.

Sebastian didn't even mind in the least over not being the one in control; it wasn't the first time he'd been a sub during sex, and hell, he knew how damn good it could feel to just let go once in a while, and William was topping very, very well for a beginner. "Yeah, I do," he murmured hazily in agreement. "Oh...god, you're good."

It didn't take long to bring the man to his climax; though he knew Sebastian could do it better, William hadn't gagged, and he'd brought his partner pleasure. That was what mattered. William spat Sebastian's seed into a tissue-- learning to swallow that substance would be a whole different challenge for him. He slumped back, warm and exhausted, though rather painfully aroused.

When Sebastian floated down from the high of his orgasm, he looked up at William through content, heavily-lidded eyes, already half-climbing over him. "Shall I return the favor, Mr. Spears?" he asked lazily, reaching down to stroke the front of William's trousers.

"Oh, you...you needn't," William whispered, biting his lip when Sebastian touched him and a small shiver of pleasure went through his body. "Not that I'd be disinclined, ha..."

Sebastian pulled gently at William's lower lip with his teeth, slipping his hand inside William's trousers and wrapping his hand around his erection through the cloth of his underwear. "I'd like to, very much," he purred into William's ear, gently stroking him.

The sounds of William moaning as Sebastian pleasured him could be heard quite loudly down the hall. It brought a few passers by scuttling past, red-faced or giggling as his husky moans penetrated the silence. He rocked back and forth, his pale skin very flushed, his back arched beautifully. "Yes, yes, oh, god, ah...--!!"

Sebastian swallowed when William came -- not to be superior because William hadn't -- it was merely his habit. He licked his lips and laid down beside William, pulling the covers over them as his partner recuperated from Sebastian's intense pleasuring. "I love the way you moan when you come," he murmured wryly into the scientist's ear. "A better sound I've never heard."

William gave him a gentle kiss. "I liked being in control of you," he confessed. "You look so nice beneath me. It made me harder than anything..."

Sebastian pulled William closer and pushed his sweat-damp fringe off his forehead. "Did it?" he asked with a smile. "Well, we can definitely do it again...you're a better top than you know."

"I've still got a lot to learn," William replied, returning the favor and pushing Sebastian's hair from his forehead. And he looked forward to learning more with him, but for now, a rest would be good.


	15. Fourth Floor Fling

**Fourth Floor Fling**

**TW: Underage Sex**

"Suppliers!" 

"The supply guys're 'ere!" 

"They got a lot of stuff this time, let's get out and get our stuff!"

Sebastian had just finished dragging a freshly-killed Reaper corpse in for the mortician when he heard the excited cries of the other hospital inhabitants. He hurried off to go wash his hands, and soon found Eric on his way someplace in quite a hurry. "What's going on?" he asked, keeping Eric's pace.

"Suppliers, brother," said Eric. "They come in once a month to deliver us stuff." 

They went out to the tunnels, where a truck was approaching slowly. Several able bodied man came from the hospital with carts and dollies to bring the supplies back in. One even had a forklift.

Sebastian supposed that it was only fair that he help out, so when the truck came close enough, he helped bring things in and stack things onto palettes and carts. Something that very much caught his attention, however, and made his mouth water, was an ample supply of alcohol. Not just one hundred percent pure, medicinal alcohol, but beer and tequila and vodka and all kinds of consumables. He immediately wondered if anyone would miss a few bottles.

William was with Ronald, helping carry in a few boxes. "Antibiotics," he commented when he saw them. "How excellent. We can treat poor Alan some." He'd gotten quite attached to the sickly man, and visited him often. 

"Foooood!" Micah said happily. "Look, there's even sandwich steak!"

Everyone tittered over the new supplies they were getting, and someone called out, "We're havin' drinks tonight!"

Ronald was delighted when he saw that antibiotics had come in. "We've been trying to get these for two months," he said happily. "Alan'll be thrilled to have something to fight off the cold he's gotten."

Sebastian actually joined in on the cheering that ensued upon the cry. It had been over a week since his last drink, and by god he missed having an alcohol buzz. It would distract him from how godawful this place was.

William saw Sebastian cheering, and he hoped the man would be able to make some friends with some of the men around the place, and then he'd feel a little more at home.   
"Do you drink, Mr. Knox?" he enquired.

"You bet I do," the blond replied, puffing out his chest with pride. "Not as well as Eric or Micah, but I can hold my drinks! I'm very Welsh on my mum's side, you know. What about you, doc? Up for a drinking contest against me?" he asked with a grin.

William gave a crooked smile. "I enjoy the activity, but alas, I am a poor drinking companion. Sebastian can tell you all about that. Still...I wouldn't mind drinking with company."

Ronald beamed and patted William roughly on the back. "Aww, that's no big deal! You can definitely come drink with us, and we'll try not to get too annoyingly drunk. But we can't make any promises, eh, Micah?" he asked, tipping him a wink.

"Sounds good," William agreed. And when the time came for everyone to come and drink, neither their noble leader Eric, nor Sebastian, was anywhere to be seen. William didn't mind though, he had a great time with Ronald and Micah and a few others, and it helped take his mind off all his worries.

It turned out that Madame Red was quite the heavy drinker, as well, and somehow, she had even Sebastian and Eric beat. She laughed heartily at some joke Sebastian had drunkenly told, and she slammed her glass down heavily onto the table she was sharing with them. "Ohhh, my, Sebastian, I had no idea you could be such a laugh~!" she cried jovially, cheeks flushed from the alcohol. "You dirty boy!"

Eric had been sitting with the woman when she sighted Sebastian creeping past with bottles and dragged him over. Eric laughed little and less at Sebastian's jokes; he just wasn't in the mood tonight, and he was deeply drunk. 

He just grumbled and took another swig of bourbon. "Angie, yer blind drunk, lass. You ought to be off t'bed. I wanna talk to Michaelis alone for a minute."

"Ohhh, don't be such a bore, Eric!" she chided after finishing her latest glass. "The night is still young!" Nevertheless, she stood up -- rather miraculously, considering how much she'd had to drink -- and pushed her chair in. "If you see little Ciel, though, send him off to bed for me," she told him. "I haven't seen him all day, silly thing..."

Eric scowled into his drink. "I donnae care where yer lil' brat is," he muttered under his breath as she swaggered away. 

Eventually he raised his head, his vision fuzzy. "Told you, brother...I told you meself that your scientist was worth five o'you," he said to Sebastian. "I mean that still."

Madame Red scoffed, affronted, and gave Eric a very rude two-fingered gesture before striding off.

Sebastian wasn't much pleased, either, and the grin he'd had from the exchange faded. "Yeah, that's been made pretty clear," he responded irritably. "I know that much."

"I have no issue with 'im," said Eric. "What I called 'im..it wasn't right. So...guess I apologize, fer that."

He shifted uncomfortably and took another swig of alcohol.

It took Sebastian a couple of seconds to realize that he was being apologized to. "Oh," he said dumbly. "Well...I appreciate it. He's a good person."

Eric nodded. "Just...it's just...my Alan," he uttered, rubbing tired eyes. The tinted glasses he wore concealed deep purple rings around both eyes. "He's been on the decline and I couldn't help 'im...I still can't really help 'im. He's gonna die sometime, Michaelis."

Sebastian poured himself a new drink and had a sip as he listened to Eric, frowning considerably. He had absolutely no idea what to say here. He'd never been slowly losing a dying loved one -- or had a dying loved one, at all. Or even a loved one. He had no idea how to relate.

"I still haven't met him," he muttered awkwardly. "You've done a pretty good job of keeping him away from me."

"He can do little but sleep nowadays anyway," Eric murmured. "My men...they've all lost people too. They're all good. Unruly, but good. Don't be too hard on 'em." He stared away. "It's just...the worse my Al gets...the less I can...concentrate....if I lose 'im..." He had tears in his eyes now. "It's not fair.."

Sebastian averted his gaze, feeling very much out of place. He tried to think of what he'd do if he lost William somehow -- it was easy enough to think of how afraid and worried he'd been just at the idea of William moving out -- he wondered what he would do if the scientist died. 

"...I'm...I'm sorry," he said quietly after a while, uncomfortably twiddling his thumbs in his lap.

Eric rested his head in his strong, hairy arms, and drunken sobs could be heard. He wept about Alan for a good while before simply passing out on the desk. 

When Eric's head dropped in sleep, it was only a minute or so before someone else appeared: Young Ciel Phantomhive. He ignored Sebastian completely as he strode past, his arms folded around his coat.

Sebastian awkwardly tried patting Eric's back with one hand and having his drink with the other, glancing around uncomfortably to see if there was anyone better-equipped for the situation. When he saw Ciel, however, everything on his mind was just swept off to one side, and feeling cocky and brave, he got up and followed him.

"Hey, now, your old lady said it's past your bedtime," he called drunkenly, carrying the bottle with him. "What're you doing in here? You're not even old enough to drink."

"Shut up," said Ciel, cradling his chest as he hurried past. "That woman doesn't tell me what to do. I'm nearly a man grown. Go back to your piss and leave me alone."

Naturally, Sebastian ignored his order, interested in the way Ciel was carrying his coat. "You're still half my size," Sebastian pointed out. "How old are you, anyway? Eleven? Twelve? What have you got there?"

"I'm fifteen," Ciel snapped, and made for the door when Sebastian stood in front of him. The boy went red, scowling heavily at Sebastian. "I just wanted to try it," he said grudgingly. "Just to try it.." 

He let his treasure slip into his fingers-- a small bottle of beer, not even a brew too strong. "You cannot tell anyone," he demanded.

"Fifteen?" Sebastian repeated doubtfully. "Puberty hasn't been very kind to you. Your voice is still high and everything." But he listened, and paid attention to Ciel's words, and looked at the brew. "Oh, hell, something this weak? Even you couldn't get drunk on it, I'm sure. I'm not your dad, though. I won't stop you."

Ciel's glower only became more pronounced. "Aunt says I'm just a late bloomer," he muttered. "Besides, I already have..." He caught himself before he could say anything more, and stepped curtly aside to brush past him. "Don't bother me. I'm not in the mood."

Sebastian stepped neatly to block his way again, holding the bottle up just out of Ciel's reach. "Have a drink with me, yeah?" he invited him, mind already wandering over the child's heated statement cut short, and not in any innocent way.

Ciel stared at him, sizing him up. Sebastian was an interesting man, that much was true.   
"Not around Eric. My aunt fancies him, and he'd tell her. She has a thing for taken men. Let us go elsewhere." 

He stood on his tiptoes and took the bottle back.

Sebastian conveniently neglected to tell Ciel that Eric was passed out at the moment. He was willing to go wherever the boy wanted to go and didn't want anyone interrupting them.

Ciel eyed the drink Sebastian was already holding. They would have plenty to drink. Ciel decided that if he could hold his liquor, he could drink with the other lads, and people would stop treating him like a child. 

"I have a secret place," he announced. "My aunt has never found me up there, no one ever goes up there." He slipped upstairs, knowing all the tricks to avoid the people on guard duty. They went up and up the stairs, to a floor that was sealed off by a huge metal door, and it could not be opened.

Sebastian was puzzled by the door when he found it locked. "Not right here, is it?" he asked with a frown. "This door is bolted shut..."

"So it is," said Ciel with a faint smile. To their left, by the door, there was a crack in the plaster where the doorframe had split away from the wall. It was just big enough for an adult man to step inside. "Follow me."

Ciel moved in with ease. Then he was inside the walls, inching along. He slipped around a corner, climbed up a couple of sturdy beams, then slid up into a ventilation shaft. He wiggled through, taking the end grate off, and slipped down into the abandoned fourth floor library. 

It was abandoned because half the wall was gone, open to the night air.

Sebastian followed Ciel easily, usually doing this sort of exercise every day while going about his errands, but he was astonished by Ciel's resourcefulness.

When they reached the library, Sebastian had his breath taken away by the incredible view of London that they had. There was a light breeze that stirred their hair, and some tattered curtains flapped uselessly. The twisted, charred remains of a helicopter lay still and inoperable across the library floor; it was clear that it was the reason half the wall was missing. He realized that he had seen this very thing, this very building from way up at the top of Big Ben with William -- sure enough, when he looked in the right direction, he saw the remains of Elizabeth's Tower, with its very top charred and caved in.

A little speechless, he wondered if he and Ciel had unknowingly been watching each other that day.

Ciel had made a pillow fort in the corner farthest from the open wall, but he did not go to it. With Sebastian, he walked to the edge of the building and sat, dangling his legs over the side. "My aunt would have a conniption if she knew I was doing this. 'It is too dangerous,' she'd wail. God...she smothers me, felon. You have no idea." He took out his drink and slowly cracked it open.

"Not a bit," Sebastian agreed, sitting down beside him and opening his own bottle back up. "Tell me about it. It must be nice, even a little bit, to have someone care about you so much."

"Yes," Ciel said after a few moments of thought. "She is my only remaining family. But I'm not a child anymore. She can't coddle me forever. And the more she does, the more I want to just...get away from it, and...rebel."

He took his very first swig of alcohol, and it was a bitter concoction that made him cough.   
"Oh, disgusting...!"

"Only one left, huh?" Sebastian asked before Ciel tried his beer for the first time. "And, yeah...it's not exactly the best-tasting of drinks. You think that's bad, you should try vodka sometime."

Ciel's features twisted in distaste. "Well, what've you got, then?!" he grumbled, putting the foul-tasting drink down on the linoleum floor.

"Scotch," Sebastian replied, showing him. "But it might be a little strong for you. And if beer's not to your taste, I have no idea what you'd make of this."

"I can handle the beer," Ciel muttered as he took Sebastian's drink into his hands. He raised the scotch to his lips, pure undiluted, and when he took a sip it felt like his whole world shook. 

"OH--" he gasped, shutting his eyes tight. "It burns, ooh...Yuck, god..."

"I told you it'd be strong," Sebastian told him with a nod. "Stick to the beer for now and build your way up. It'll make stronger drinks more bearable that way."

Ciel shuddered. "Foul, foul, foul..." he muttered. The beer was much more bearable in comparison. "People don't drink these for the taste, there's no doubt about that," he muttered. "Bloody hell."

Sebastian chuckled a little, drawing one knee up and letting his other leg dangle over the edge. "Wine is better for taste," he advised him. "The right combinations of wine and food taste amazing, especially. But this stuff...you drink it to get drunk. To forget things you'd rather not think about. Just escape reality for a little while."

Ciel leaned against the window pane. "...Can't blame anybody then, I suppose," he muttered, rubbing at his eyepatch then returning to drinking the beer. It really wasn't that bad.

Sebastian watched the motion curiously as he sipped his scotch. "What happened to your eye?" he asked a little tactlessly. "Did something happen in the Outbreak?"

Ciel glanced up at him with one deep blue eye, then slowly removed the eyepatch. It fell away to reveal his second eye, pure white. The skin around his eye was faintly scarred. "It was a chemical accident," he muttered. "It blinded me. It's also quite hideous to look upon, so my aunt suggested I should cover it up."

Sebastian leaned in a little closer to get a better look, gazing at the deformity with great interest. "It's actually kind of..." he tilted his head slightly. "...beautiful, in a strange way," he murmured.

Ciel stared at him for a second, then went blushed prettily. "That's nonsense. It's awful. Several people have said so before," he muttered, flustering a little and taking a sip of beer to distract himself.

"They could be wrong," Sebastian said reasonably, liking the way Ciel blushed. He had another swig from his drink and leaned close again. "It's very unique."

Ciel clutched the eyepatch in his hand, biting his lip. "What, so...you like it, Michaelis?" he asked hesitantly, glancing up at him with his mismatched eyes.

"Yeah," Sebastian said decisively, carefully reaching a hand up and tracing around Ciel's eye with one finger. "It adds to your mystery, I think. It's like you, a little; strange and beautiful."

Ciel only went more red, and he turned away. "You're not flirting with me, are you?" he asked, shifting slightly away. "You'd best not be."

Sebastian chuckled again and grinned, leaning even closer. "And what if I am? I bet you've never had someone call you beautiful, before, little Ciel."

Ciel bit his lip, rocking in a discomforted way that said he really hadn't been called that before. "What would you know?" he huffed. "Look...Even if I was interested in someone as old as you are, I'm not into men. Okay? I'm not gay."

Sebastian gave him some slack and leaned back on his hands, still grinning. "Methinks he doth protest too much," he teased, drinking heavily from his bottle and not fazed by the attempted insult.

"Yeah, well...Keep your hands to yourself," Ciel snipped, turning his gaze back to the skyline. "I had a girlfriend, you know. Before all this. Her name was Elizabeth. My family and her family had been very close."

The raven glanced back at him. "Did you lose her?" he asked quietly, feeling a little sorry for him. Somehow, he was able to feel more closely to Ciel in this regard than he was to Eric slowly losing Alan.

Ciel nodded. "We were to be married one day. It was never legally binding, but everyone expected it of us. She drove me insane sometimes, with all her squealing and giggling and needing everything to be cute--" He tossed a small piece of rubble over the side. 

"She was so vapid. But in the end...it was she who saved me. She drew a sword, can you believe it...? God...she was stupid. And the worst part was...that I just didn't feel the same way she did. She died, and I couldn't tell her I loved her, because it would have been a lie."

"A sword, huh..." Sebastian murmured after a while. "Must have been much tougher than she looked." He lay back, staring up at the rotting ceiling. "I can't even imagine that. Dying to save someone you love. No one would do that for me."

Ciel scrubbed his eyes and took a few long swigs of beer to drown the memories. "You have to earn that," he told him. "It takes time to earn that sort of devotion. You take care of that scientist of yours and maybe he'd die for you. Chances are he will."

Sebastian thought about it for a while, and then said quietly, "I don't want him to. If it means he'd die...I'd rather have him be selfish and save himself. I want him to live."

"Yes. Well, who knows? After the cowardice he showed on the wall yesterday, maybe he would run off. I cannot say for sure." He lay down beside him, his vision spinning again. He felt rather tingly.

Sebastian offered him a nasty look. "That wasn't cowardice," he muttered. "He fought as long as he could even though he was afraid. People...people have limits, and he hit his."

Ciel shrugged it off. "...I want to be out there fighting too. My aunt would never let me, but...one day, I'm going to be out there, defending our home. It's all we've got and I don't want to be cooped up with the sick and injured anymore. I can fight."

"One day, yeah," the convict replied. "Just not yet. I probably wouldn't let you, either. She watched your girlfriend die; I'm sure she doesn't want to watch you go, too."

Ciel scowled and sat up. "Have you heard nothing I've said? I'm sick of being treated like a child. God, you're just like the rest of them, I should've known better."

Sebastian wrinkled his brow in irritation. "I heard you just fine, kid. But you're about half my size and your balls haven't dropped yet, and you're thin as a broom. You're not exactly fighter material."

Ciel gave him a withering glare. "Is that so? Pray tell why your poor scientist was out on that wall, then? He's certainly not fighter material. Who are you to judge someone's abilities like this?"

"I've been training him personally, that's why," Sebastian replied nonchalantly. "He can shoot and he can fight. He's worlds better than he was a few months ago, when I found him. Even for us, this was our second time seeing the Abnormals and frankly, they scared the shit out of us." He looked up at Ciel, considering him and comparing him to that girl Willow, who was the same age as him, if not a little older. Here, he was looking at a rich, spoiled brat who rarely lifted a finger and had everything handed to him. Even if it had been brief, he'd seen Willow and she was easily twice his muscle mass and strength. "If you want to fight, I'd suggest you start training with the other men. Even if your aunt doesn't let you go out and fight yet, you're still building up your strength and preparing for the worst."

"How do you know I haven't been shooting? How do you know I can't fight? God, I can't believe you're lecturing me." Ciel got up and walked over to his pillow fort, climbing inside it. "Begone, felon."

Sebastian ignored him and sat before the pillow fort, giving Ciel a long, hard look. "Alright. Want to prove it to me? Fight me right now and I'll see how good you are. Quit sulking in there and put your fists up. I won't even go easy on you."

"Why? You think I'm going to be punching the Reapers?" Ciel responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm. A gun rose from within the fort, pointing straight at Sebastian.   
"This is my weapon. Now leave me alone."

"No," Sebastian said calmly, pointing the gun away from himself. "Not punching. They don't feel pain and they won't stop to think twice about ripping your arms off. You need physical strength to use weapons, because you won't always have a gun. I can guarantee this personally. Sometimes you need an axe, or a crowbar, or a lead pipe. Any blunt object will do in a pinch. They don't run out of ammo, either. Guns are dead useful, but you can't survive on them, alone. And guns like that won't do jack shit on Abnormals. They literally bounce off."

"But this is enough for the wall!" Ciel protested, lowering the weapon. "There's boys only 5 years older than me who get to be out there. It's complete insolence. I'm not asking to be on the field, hacking things to pieces. I just want to defend, and I can. My father taught me how to shoot."

"Again," Sebastian muttered in exasperation, taking hold of one of Ciel's biceps and giving it a squeeze. As he'd expected, the soft, tender muscles gave way easily. There was minimal strength to them. "I'm trying to tell you that you always need a Plan B. Whether it's running like hell or grabbing a baseball bat and bludgeoning a Reaper to death, you need fail-safes with you. You think you're clever, and you are, you really are, but not enough. Surviving isn't easy, not even out on the wall. They shake it so hard even grown men like me can fall over the side and then that's the end."

His eyes glinted. "But, you know. If you're afraid to face me, I understand. I've murdered quite a few men, you know. I strangled one with his own intestines. But if you don't want to show me how clever and capable you really are, I just have no choice but to not believe you, and think you're just a lazy, spoilt coward."

Ciel glared at him. "There are men out there who can't fight," he said, draining the last of his drink. "Ronald Knox can't fight! Micah-- Micah's terrified of the sight of his own blood. They're both still out there!" He got out of his fort and stood up, wobbling a bit. "We weren't all raised on the streets, having to fight to survive, you know!"

"Ronald Knox fought," Sebastian told him, standing up by his side. "Recklessly and idiotically, to be sure, but he could lift an axe and swing it hard enough to kill ordinary reapers."

He suddenly stepped before Ciel, looking darkly down at him and blocking his way. "If you're so determined to fight, why don't you stop moaning and complaining about it and do something?"

Ciel was fuming now, and his first instinct was to bring his knee right up into Sebastian's legs, fast as he could. And he was nothing if not fast. "And he would have died if you hadn't saved him!" he snapped as he made contact, then staggered backwards.

Sebastian reeled from the impact, then caught Ciel by the wrist, seized him tightly, and lifted him into the air -- Ciel was fast, certainly, but not very strong at all. The convict held the boy out at arms' length, staring emotionlessly down at him. "Because he overestimated his own strength. He was reckless. To survive, you need to know your limits. Know when to retreat and live for another day. If you went out there right now, I guarantee you would die in minutes upon encountering a horde of Reapers."

Ciel struggled and began to kick at him. "Don't touch me!" he cried. "Put me down or I'll scream!" Not that anyone would hear. "My aunt w-will hear of this-- I'll tell her you m-molested me--!"

"You wanted to prove yourself, and here's your chance," Sebastian said coldly. "Free yourself from me with your physical strength alone. If you can do that, I'll put in a good word toward your strength to your aunt and to Eric. If you can't...well, you'll just have to work much harder, won't you?"

Ciel could only hang there while Sebastian hung him by the wrist. His anger turned to determination as he finally calmed down a little. He reached up with his spare hand to where Sebastian was gripping him, clutched his pinky finger and rolled it sharply in the opposite direction, peeling Sebastian's grip away from his wrist. 

He dropped back to the floor, breathing shakily.

"Shit! -- " Sebastian was fairly certain his pinky finger had just been broken, and he waved his hand in pain. "Shit, shit -- ow, shit -- " He stared down at Ciel, a little impressed again by his resourcefulness, but...

"Not bad," he muttered through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the splitting pain of his broken finger. "You can free yourself from a human, at least. Like I said before, Reapers don't feel pain. That trick won't do anything if you're caught in that situation with one of them. What else have you got?"

"Nothing I can do with my bare hands will kill a reaper," Ciel muttered. "I'd be stupid to pretend otherwise. Give me an axe, I know where to swing it."

Sebastian cradled his broken pinkie for a moment, wondering how to treat it. He'd have to make a splint...

"I'm not letting you swing an axe at me," he replied irritably. "Everyone knows you kill a Reaper by destroying its brain. But I can give you a target to go for," he muttered as his eyes scanned the book-strewn floor. He found a tattered anatomy book and flipped through it until he found a detailed drawing of a skull. He tore it right out of the book, and, with a sharp piece of debris, pinned it to one of the walls, about the height of his own head.

"Get that with an axe if you find one," he told him. "Right in the center."

Ciel stared up at it. "We have targets like that down in the gym. You should go down there sometime. Eric is giving the men workout drills at least once a day now. Uhh...sorry about your finger," he added.

Sebastian shook his head, slipping his injured hand into his pocket. "Don't worry about it," he told him. "You're alright, but you've got plenty of room for improvement. Instead of hiding up here, you should do workouts in the gym. Start off small so you don't strain your muscles."

Ciel gave a grudging nod. "A mind needs books," he muttered. "I have to stay sharp, too." His blind eye twinkled a little, then he staggered and sat down on a faded bean bag, his head spinning.

Sebastian sat down beside him and looked at his alcohol-flushed face. "Feeling the drink now, huh?" he murmured. "Wait until you're hung over. That'll be fun."

"Shut your trap," Ciel responded, staring back at the moldy ceiling again. "I thought being drunk was supposed to be fun. I just feel dizzy, and a little nauseous."

"It's not fun, really," Sebastian answered, settling his arm on Ciel's shoulder like it was an armrest. "Drinking can be, but letting it kick in isn't. Come back downstairs with me and have some water to counterract the alcohol level."

"No. Go and fetch me water," said Ciel. "This room is tedious to get into." He leaned back against the man and closed his mismatched eyes. "Maybe I'll sleep here, tonight, under the stars. It is lovely."

"Tch...I'm not your butler, you know," the convict murmured. "You need to be independent if you want to prove yourself."

"Stop lecturing me, you bastard," Ciel snapped. "Drink a bit more, why don't you? You're already drunk enough to flirt with a fifteen year old."

Sebastian flopped down on his back besides the boy and heaved a sigh. "I've had enough," he replied. "I don't want a hangover like the one you'll be getting~" he taunted him lightly. "And it's not my fault you're cute."

"You have weird tastes," Ciel replied. "First you like men...then you like boys...then you like boys with deformities. And it's not even for a lack of options."

"You're an exception, honestly...I usually hate children," Sebastian told him lazily. "Men, women...in between, neither...both...I'll take them to bed if they're interested. But I have to say. You're definitely the first boy since I was a boy, myself."

"You take them to bed if they're not interested, too," Ciel pointed out. "Should I be worried here, Michaelis? Do I need to fear for my sweet little virginity?"

"No," Sebastian said after a moment's thought. "I made a promise to William that I'd never touch him without his permission again. I guess it applies to everyone. He'd never forgive me."

Ciel hummed in satisfaction. "Good. ...With that said, though...are you lusting after me? Do you want to...do things...with me, you dirty sodomite?" he questioned, a coy smirk on his lips.

"Sodomite? Really?" Sebastian asked incredulously at the outdated terminology. "You really are an old man in a little boy's body." He looked into Ciel's eyes, though, rather entranced by the white one again, pulled in by it. "Is that an invitation?"

"It was no such thing," Ciel replied. "A question, I asked. I don't know...If you are lusting for me...it means you...don't see me as completely a child?" he asked hopefully. "Unless you're just a pedophile."

"No, I'm not pedo. I just told you I usually hate kids," Sebastian muttered. "It could be a little icky. I guess it depends on how mature you are. I mean, God, if you haven't even got pubes yet, I'll be out in a second. Not touching that."

Ciel slapped at him. "I do, you sick fuck," he snapped, his words slurring just a little. "I'm not a child. My body, it-- it functions like a man, okay?" He rolled over. "Arsehole."

Sebastian couldn't help but laugh at him, rolling onto his side to watch him. "So that's why you're so determined to prove your adulthood," he said in amusement. "That growth spurt should come in any day now, don't worry."

Ciel huffed. "I want to know what it's like to be desired," he said after a long time, then sat up. "But...I'm not gay."

[MATURE SCENE START]

Sebastian watched him, considering. "You don't even want to try it?" he asked him in a soft murmur. "See what it's like with another man? You're not even curious?"

Ciel stared at him, his cheeks steadily reddening. "...My books say this is the age that I should be curious," he mumbled, drawing his knees to his chest.

Sebastian leaned in again, tilting his head a little and exposing his handsome throat. "Well, that's natural enough, isn't it?" he replied. "Books can't tell you everything. How good it can feel, for example..."

Ciel saw Sebastian's foul scotch less than a metre away and he reached for it, taking another dizzying sip. "Agh...u-uh..." He raised his eyes to Sebastian shyly. "...I know a little about how good it can feel...I'm not inept..."

"Ah, so you already have a little...hands-on experience, you might say?" the raven asked slyly. "It's nothing compared to feeling someone else's hands on you...someone who knows all the right places to touch, when you don't know where and when, or what they'll do..."

"I'd close my eyes and pretend it wasn't you, but you do like my eyes..." Ciel muttered. "And no one's ever said that." He kept them firmly averted. "...I'd like to know more...about how it feels."

Sebastian rested his hands on either side of Ciel, looming over him and leaning in very close. "Then...will you permit me to show you, little Ciel?" he purred into the young man's ear.

Ciel was a little scared, but he was also drunk, and he'd wanted this for a long time. Even if it was a man...it didn't seem like any women were coming along anytime soon. "I'm a man," Ciel protested, biting his lip. "...but yes."

The moment he was granted permission, Sebastian lifted Ciel's chin with one finger and closed the distance between their lips. Ciel's mouth was small, but softer than anyone's he'd ever kissed. His skin was smooth and hair soft, light, and fluffy, and Sebastian immediately decided he liked touching him.

For Ciel, this was nothing like the kisses Elizabeth stole from him, quick pecks on the lips. This was a mature, proper kiss. His heart fluttered as he held the kiss, unsure of what to do. "Mmmh..."

Careful with his injured finger, Sebastian gently loosened Ciel's tie and began to unbutton his shirt, eager to feel the soft skin on his chest, and beginning to feel his loins stir. He continued the kiss, guiding him through it, silently showing him how to deepen it and use tongue and teeth for stimulation.

Ciel tilted his head, a small hand gripping Sebastian's arms, as he learned how to kiss him. He was already hard, being as young and hormonal as he was, and when it brushed against Sebastian he tilted his hips back shyly. "Ngh..."

A deep chuckle issued from Sebastian's throat, and he broke the kiss to whisper, "Shh, don't fret...it's normal..." He opened the shirt all the way, tracing his fingers very slowly and lightly down the center of Ciel's abdomen. "Nervousness...is completely...natural," he added softly between kisses venturing down the young man's neck.

Ciel looked down at his perky red nipples, the downy little patch of hair in the middle of his chest, and another small trail leading into his trousers. Each kiss gave him soft shivers. He held his tongue, deciding not to snap at Sebastian right now. All he knew was he liked this.

Sebastian used his uninjured hand to work open the button of Ciel's trousers, followed by the zip, and rested his hand over the bulge in the young man's underwear. By now, his lips were at Ciel's collar bone, and he carefully, gently nibbled at the sensitive area.

Ciel whimpered softly, a hundred thoughts going through his head. If a man touched him, and he liked it, did it make him gay? He was so nervous, he could smell his own sweat, but he didn't want to stop. It felt good, and the gentle touch against his underwear drew a sharp gasp. He closed his eyes, searching out Sebastian's shirt and pulled it over his head without even looking.

Sebastian pulled his arms out of his sleeves and tossed his head back once the shirt was off, showing off his well-developed, toned muscles. He pulled back just a little to catch his breath, and then moved his lips back to Ciel's chest, taking a soft, pert nipple into his mouth to lick and suck as his hand began to stroke Ciel's member through the fabric, nice and slow.

Ciel let out a choked cry. He'd never been touched there before, and-- and goddamnit, Sebastian's body...he didn't have breasts, but it was...it was perfect. Ciel's fingers spread over his pectorals and he shifted his hips towards him now. "Wh...what's this," he mumbled as Sebastian sucked his nipple. "Why-- it--" A tiny mewl escaped as he realized this felt good too.

Just from touch, Sebastian could tell that Ciel was certainly bigger than expected. It just seemed that the rest of his body simply hadn't caught up to puberty. 

His nimble fingers slipped under the waistband of Ciel's underwear, and he took his warm erection into his hand, squeezing his virgin member. "Does it feel good?" he murmured against Ciel's chest, even though the young man's moans were an obvious indication as to how good it felt.

Ciel shut his eyes tighter. "Yes," he whispered, clutching the man closer to him. He shyly kissed at Sebastian's collar, and up his neck. 

"Touch me." 

This was why people drank alcohol...so they could let go their inhibitions and do things they were too afraid of normally. 

He'd never have agreed, sober...or so he thought.

Sebastian shifted himself and Ciel into more comfortable positions, and quite happily obeyed. He went back to kissing him, working the boy's underwear down so he could feel his supple backside, as well. The more he touched, stroked, and kissed, the more aroused he got by the little lord beneath him, and his own erection strained obviously behind his trousers.

Ciel gasped, moaning softly. His eyes had peeked open, and he gaze down at the hardness pressing against him, and tentatively pressed a hand to the area. Rock-hard. 

"Ooh, nnn..." He clenched his backside instinctively as Sebastian's hand touched his bare skin.

Sebastian moaned very softly at the tentative little feel, and he chuckled against Ciel's lips. "Would you like to see it?" he murmured invitingly, gently pushing their hips together.

Ciel looked away. He'd come this far. "...Okay," he breathed, inhaling sharply at the pleasurable friction he felt. He took the initiative and rubbed up against him in turn, and a small tingle of pleasure went through his body.

Sebastian smiled, pleased when Ciel began taking the initiative. He would let Ciel undo his trousers then, let him take his time and ease into it as he deemed comfortable.

Ciel was trembling a little as he unzipped Sebastian's trousers and lowered them down his thighs. When he saw the proud, stiff erection straining against Sebastian's underpants, he swallowed nervously.

His mismatched eyes, shining bright in the moonlight, flicked up to Sebastian for reassurance.

Sebastian gave him a gentle nod, one of his hands still gently stroking the young man. He gazed into Ciel's beautiful eyes, transfixed by them, and pushed their foreheads gently together. "It's all right," he murmured.

Ciel lowered Sebastian's underwear and revealed him in all his glory. He hoped he would be so well-endowed one day. Even though he was a virgin, Ciel was not one to be submissive. He took a shy but firm grip on the warm flesh, sliding it back and forth while Sebastian's own hand worked at him, and he found his lips again. 

"You and he...are you a couple?" he whispered.

"Not...really," Sebastian murmured contentedly against Ciel's lips as they stroked each other. "Friends...with benefits...really..." He was turned on by Ciel's assertiveness, and encouraged him with more touches and kisses.

"Good." Ciel shifted forward into Sebastian's lap, spreading his legs over the man's erection, letting in brush against his backside. His kisses were wet, a little clumsy from the alcohol and inexperience. Saliva connected them when their lips parted. 

"Do it f-faster," he whispered, clenching himself against the hard cock.

Sebastian obeyed without question, taking Ciel and pumping him harder and faster. His hips moved back and forth, grinding against Ciel's virgin entrance. He was growing more and more desperate to get inside him, so he lifted three fingers to Ciel's mouth, pressing them against his soft, plush lips. "Suck these," he murmured between soft pants.

"Why...?" Ciel questioned, but he was already parting his lips to take the three fingers into his mouth and suck them like he would a lolly.

"I'm going to make you feel better than you have in your entire life," Sebastian promised, pumping him faster now. He groaned softly in the back of his throat when he felt Ciel's warm, wet tongue slide over his fingers.

Ciel moaned around the fingers and whimpered. He was already feeling better than he ever had. 

"Is this okay?" he asked when he released the slippery wet fingers.

Sebastian continued grinding against Ciel's hips and rubbing the head of his cock against the young man's virgin entrance. "It's just perfect," he replied softly. He took his fingers down to Ciel's entrance and rubbed with his middle finger before starting to push it in while it was still wet and slippery.

Ciel startled a bit, now. "Wait," he gasped. "...You...you wanted t-to go...all the way?" he asked meekly, wincing at the discomfort of someone's finger pressing into his backside.

"I do," Sebastian murmured, pausing the movement of his fingers. "But I can make you come using my fingers alone. It's uncomfortable, at first...but I can bring you to heaven and back."

Ciel shivered, thinking to himself. Eventually he spoke again. "Just your fingers," he said softly, stroking Sebastian a little faster again. "Maybe another time...when I feel ready..." He moaned and rubbed his face against Sebastian's chest.

Sebastian was definitely disappointed that he would not be getting to claim Ciel's full virginity tonight, but he could at least give him a small taste. "All right, then," he murmured in agreement, moving his fingers once more. Once his warm, tight entrance was sufficiently stretched, he added the second finger, not bothering with the third since he wouldn't be fucking him.

Ciel was apologetic, but he did not apologize. He merely stroked Sebastian, rolling his thumb over the tip, tumbling his balls lightly-- the things he liked to do to himself. "Oh, g...gods..." the young man whispered, beginning to pant. He didn't like this at all. 

How on earth could it feel good?

Sebastian answered the silent query by pushing his fingers up to hit Ciel's prostate, giving his member a generous squeeze at the same time. He pressed up against the sensitive spot gently at first, not quite certain how such a young virgin could take it.

Ciel lurched and cried out, clutching the man tightly against him. "Ah?!" He stared up at Sebastian with all the bewilderment William had on his first time, and then some. "Oh, do it again, do it again!" he urged him, his grip tightening on Sebastian's thick member, pumping it back and forth. "Yes-- oh-- don't stop!" 

He was rapidly approaching orgasm now.

Pleased, Sebastian obliged and began assaulting the spot with his usual strength and speed, meeting Ciel's pace with their strokes. He pushed their arousals together and stroked them both, breathing heavily from his exertion. He simply couldn't get over how tight and soft and warm the boy was, and wanted to stay like this with him forever.

Ciel's cries rose higher and louder each time. It still hurt a bit, but right now he was going crazy with pleasure.

Sebastian returned his lips to Ciel's and kissed him ravenously as they pleasured each other. His own orgasm was building up very quickly, and he was sure to warn the boy before it happened. "Soon...soon, Ciel, I'm..."

Ciel was naturally first to hit his peak, and he spilled his seed over Sebastian's fingers. As he cried out, his voice cracked, and he rocked against Sebastian's body when he came. It was just as well no one came near this floor, because someone would have heard him.

Sebastian's climax was accompanied by a deep, husky moan, and he came heavily into their fingers not long after Ciel. He shuddered deeply and slipped his fingers out from the young man, breathing hard, but keeping his balance over him.

Ciel slumped against the beanbag, looking at the hot seed that had spilt over his fingers and hand. He flicked his wrist to get rid of it, then pulled a handkerchief from his pants pocket and wiped his hands. 

"Well," he mumbled when it was all done, but he didn't finish his sentence. Instead he curled up where he lay and shut his eyes.

Sebastian blinked down at him, not surprised that he'd fallen asleep. He sighed a little and smiled endearingly at the boy, sitting back now that they had finished. "Dear me...what a lightweight," he murmured, subconsciously imitating Ciel's uppercrust English. 

The night was cold, so he buttoned Ciel's shirt back up, fixed his trousers and underwear, and worked him into his coat. A quick search in the pillow fort yielded a blanket, and so he bundled Ciel up in it and lay him down inside the fort, where it would become warmer. 

"I suppose I'll stand guard for you, won't I? I'm sure I won't be much missed for one night," he mused.  
[MATURE SCENE END]  
Ciel was completely gone, and he slept well past sunrise. Eric spent the night slumped at the table where he'd passed out, and William, Ronald and Micah were all tangled in the employees lounge after a long night. William had been passed out a lot longer than the more seasoned drinkers, however, leaving Micah and Ronald to their own devices for half the night. Many of the survivors at the hospital had spent the night drinking and laughing, remembering how to live. 

That night had been a needed reprieve from all the work, a celebration for another month survived. Keeping the men's spirits up was just as important as the other work they did, and most everyone felt all the better for it.


	16. Secret

Things went back to their usual routine after that one short day of frivolity. William and Sebastian had been staying with the Royal London Hospital survivors for upwards of a month now. Aside from occasional small groups of Reapers being mowed down at the gates, it was getting rather stale around the place. 

The worst change was that Alan seemed to have contracted pneumonia on top of his leukaemia, and the antibiotics just weren't enough to help his defenceless body fight off the disease. He faded a little more each day, much to the distress of Eric. 

William had dedicated most of his time to research. Occasionally he got his hands on a dead reaper to study, resuming his search for a cure for the Reaper Virus. He wasn't given a look at the Abnormal, since it was already inside the morgue, and that was a no-go zone. 

Or so he'd intended. After a maddening month of loose ends and going in circles with his research, bonding a particular group of amino acids to form an enzyme that would hopefully destroy the virus, he'd found that in the presence of the virus (even just a few living cells), it denatured the enzyme and rendered it useless. 

That enzyme had been his plan for many, many months, and it had failed. He'd been almost reclusive in his study, and it had all been for naught. Sebastian wasn't fussed; he'd been spending all his time with a young boy. 

In his frustration, and desperation, William sought out Gabriel Giltine. He needed to speak with a fellow scientist. This man experimented with live Reapers, maybe they could combine their research and collaborate to work for a cure. Who wouldn't want to work towards that, after all? 

William told himself that he was going to the morgue for Gabriel, not to see what horrors lurked within. But when he found the door ever so slightly ajar, and all the lights were on, he didn't feel too concerned about entering. 

It didn't look so bad, really. 

As he strolled the chamber of the dead, holding himself confidently, he paused to peak inside one or two icy shelves. Inside was a cadaver with a severe viral infection. Definitely a morgue. Nothing too shady going on so far. 

It was only when he opened up the large steel plated door, calling out, "Mr. Giltine, are you in?" that he realized just what Sebastian had been afraid of. The mortician was not in, but his live subjects were. The Siamese grotesques, snarling and lurching towards him, struggling against their chains. The pregnant one was gone, but in his its place, in a little chain of its own-- the undead baby. 

William threw up in his mouth as it scuttled forward on the monstrous arthropodal legs that sprouted from its spine, and he hurried backwards, locking the vault door tightly and coughing up on the floor once he was done. Every instinct told him to run, but he didn't.   
Live subjects...were...live subjects...and William needed them, so he steeled himself and hurried down a hallway. "M-Mr. G-Giltine," he stammered, much paler now. At the end of the hall, he didn't find any more monsters, just a door, leading to a small office. 

It was void of human presence, quite a dark place, with candles burning. The man had skulls, normal and mutated, lining his walls. Strange, paganistic items lined his shelves. And on the desk, a small note. 

William didn't know what possessed him to go forth and peek at it, but he did. What he saw shook his world. 

'Undertaker. The cultists want their orator to bring forth an Evolved one, so that they may provide sacrifices and work towards the Next Step. They grow restless.'

William's eyes widened. He didn't know what he was looking at, but he knew at that moment that he'd seen something he shouldn't. Without a second thought, he turned on his heels and fled the morgue, possibly even paler than Sebastian had been, and he locked himself in his study for the rest of the day.

 

That day, Ciel had been detained by his overbearing aunt, who had caught him trying a cigarette he'd nicked from one of Eric's men. Sebastian had already done his work for the day, bringing a Reaper corpse to the morgue, and with Ciel gone, and William up to his eyeballs in research, Sebastian had no company. 

He still hadn't managed to make any friends (in his eyes) despite the time spent there. He sorely missed his beautiful motorcycle, which was probably destroyed by the monster by now. He missed going out for chores besides dragging Reaper corpses back to the hospital. He longed for his days of trading and surviving, building up his own defenses. He itched to be industrious.

He made himself a seat in one of the waiting rooms where many of the survivors liked to congregate between shifts and jobs. He sat down on a couch alone, chin in one hand for a while, when Ronald Knox came from downstairs with a clipboard. He spotted Sebastian and approached him as openly and calmly as he could, though the young psych's heart fluttered with the same sort of nervousness as always. To him, Sebastian was the Elvis of serial killers.

"Hey, there," he said in a friendly tone, sitting beside him and setting his clipboard in his lap. "All by yourself today?"

Sebastian warily side-eyed the young man, whom he'd avoided if he could. First impressions lasted, after all. "Yes," he replied a little wearily. 

Ronald gave him a sympathetic smile. "William's been really busy, huh? He's working hard for all of us...I'm really impressed. And so have you! You've really saved our skins more than once, you know...well, mine especially. I'm grateful for that. And...well...I'd like to get to know you better, maybe even become friends?"

Sebastian wasn't sure if he liked the sound of this or not. Granted, Ronald was being much calmer than he had been when they'd met. He was sitting at a respectful distance with a professional posture. Even Sebastian could see the change in Ronald's demeanor. "I don't...really have much to talk about, unless you're only wanting to hear the dirty details of -- " he started, but Ronald waved his hand dismissively. 

"No, not unless you want to disclose that," the blond said earnestly. "I mean...you. Like...do you have hobbies, do you work out? Favorite color, favorite whatevers."

Sebastian gave him a rather blank look. "That sounds really boring to talk about, to be honest," he muttered. 

Ronald hunched his shoulders in embarrassment. "Yeaaah, I know," he replied sheepishly. "Small talk is awkward, I know. But I really do want to get to know you. Literally the only thing I know personally about you is that you like cats."

'Like' didn't even begin to describe how much Sebastian loved cats. He adored them, revered them. Ronald watched the raven's pupils dilate, his chin lifting up just a little. Physiological signs of clear interest. He'd been spot on.

"I do like cats," Sebastian said calmly. "Who told you that?"

"Oh -- no one," Ronald answered sheepishly. "Whenever I catch you alone, you're usually looking through that old ‘Your Cat’ magazine. You know, we have more in other waiting rooms if you'd like a little more to look at -- "

"Yes," Sebastian agreed before he could stop himself, and he blushed faintly. He cleared his throat. "Y...yes, I would. Thank you." 

Ronald gave him an adorable, sunny smile and stood up. "Sure thing," he replied, offering Sebastian his hand. Sebastian wasn't sure what he wanted, so he took it and gave it a shake as he stood up. "We can get them and go to my office where we can talk in privacy. No one will interrupt us."

And that's exactly what they did. As Ronald had predicted to William, honing in on Sebastian's interests was the key to getting him to open up. Upon learning that Ronald was very much more a cat person than a dog person ("Oh, man, we had no less than nine cats at my house at any given time while I was growing up!"), Sebastian was more willing to talk with him on other topics. 

With Sebastian's permission, Ronald wrote down absolutely everything he heard. Any little tidbit that he thought could be relevant to the convict's psyche. His childhood. His family, his childhood friends. He learned many, many things that William hadn't -- Sebastian had dropped out of high school at fifteen and lived on the streets since then, escaping his alcoholic grandmother who blamed him for his mother's liver failure. Getting into drugs and alcohol, himself, to cope. Discovering sex as a means of income. Selling himself on the streets to pedophiles and becoming a sex addict, himself. The events leading up to each of his murders, their motivations, his trials, his old psychiatrist. Ronald was even able to get Sebastian to confide in him his current feelings -- his fear of fear, separation anxiety toward William, desire to become better as a person, regret of his past, desire to protect William, and Ciel now by extension. 

All of these lead Ronald to a definitive conclusion. "You're not a sociopath," he said softly. "Sociopaths...they couldn't possibly describe the emotions you've felt. You have capacity for humanity, for improvement, Sebastian. You've already started. Promising to respect William's space and sexuality was a huge step, and if you're honest, which I really think you are, you've held to it. Because he's still here. He said he'd leave if you tried to assault him again, but he's still here, and with you. You're pansexual, yes, but that by no means makes you a deviant. Orientation has nothing to do with it. You'll sleep with anyone no matter their identity; that's all right, that's your business, as long as there is consent from your partners. But my point is that you can become even better."

Sebastian stared at him, feeling a sort of tightness in his chest just...leave. He had always thought it was a cliche, but it truly felt like some weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "And my...my fear, that's -- "

"That's human too," Ronald said gently. "It really must be scary, having everything you know upended like that. But I think...if you confide these feelings to William, he can help you settle and gain a new sense of self. Then that unease will go away, forever. It might take a very long time...but it's worth the journey."

Sebastian could only breathe and feel gratitude. He got up to his feet then, feeling there was nothing more to be said, and Ronald agreed unknowingly, getting up to his feet, as well. "Thanks for your time, Sebastian," he said with a smile. "Hopefully we can talk again real soon. I think you can make some really incredible progress."

Sebastian smiled faintly, himself. "I should be thanking you. I'm by no means cured, but...like you've said, I've taken small steps. I do want to be a better person."

Ronald opened his office door for him, and tilted his head a little. "You know...you talk differently than you did when you first came here. Have you noticed?"

Sebastian blinked in surprise, pausing in the doorway. "Different, how?" he asked in puzzlement. He hadn't noticed anything.

"Your speech patterns, your mannerisms and stuff. It's become more formal," Ronald explained. "I don't think you cursed once during our entire talk."

Sebastian was a little surprised; he really hadn't noticed a thing. "I suppose...well, I've been spending a lot of time with Ciel Phantomhive..."

Ronald clapped his hands together once in a sort of 'eureka!' gesture. "Oh! Well, that explains it. Humans tend to imitate each other's speech after prolonged company. It's more noticeable in some people than others, but basically he's just rubbed off on you. I'm not complaining or anything, but it's definitely an interesting phenomenon!"

Sebastian gave Ronald an amused smile, absently playing his fingers along his splinted pinkie finger. "I wonder if he knows," he thought aloud. "In any case...thank you again, and -- "

"Sorry, sorry!" Ronald apologized, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. "I won't keep you any longer. I'll see you around!"

Sebastian made his goodbyes and left the psychiatric ward, eager to find William and talk to him about what had happened.  
\--  
William had taken a shower to try and wash away the memories of what he'd just seen.   
What he saw...especially in that note...it could mean danger for everybody. But at the same time, if he was wrong...they'd get kicked out, and there was a terrible monster in their old home. Being homeless in a world like this significantly diminished one’s survival chances.   
Something had to be done, but William decided he needed time to think. In the meantime, he suppressed the horrific thoughts and composed himself as best he could.

Sebastian carried his new ‘Your Cat’s against his chest as he made his way back to William's study to check first. He peered around but didn't see him, and tried next their room. He heard the shower running and stepped in, setting the magazines on his bed. "William?"

"Is that you, Sebastian?" William questioned, washing the last of the conditioner from his hair, removing the suds from his body, and turning the shower off. His heart began pounding quite instantly. He knows, he thought. No, that was irrational. Nobody knew. Nobody had seen him. The morgue was not surveilled. 

"I'm being irrational," he whispered to himself. After a brief chat with Ronald the student psychologist, they'd decided he should have a little mantra when he started to freak out over something. And there was little William hated more than irrationality.

"Yeah, it's me," came the reply. Sebastian hurried over to the bathroom door, which was closed. He kept it that way and talked through it. "Have you finished your research for the day?"

"Yes, you could say that," said William as he dried his glistening body and wrapped a towel around his waist. He opened the door then and let the steam drift out. 

"Do you need something...?"

Sebastian didn't bother making any subtle glances over William's clean and nearly naked body -- he made them outright with an approving smile. "Not really," he replied when he met William's eyes again. "I just had a long talk with Ronald Knox, and...I wanted to see you."

William watched Sebastian's eyes sliding down his body, and he flustered a little. "To see me," he echoed dubiously. He was sure he knew what Sebastian wanted. "Look...I've been thinking," he continued, as he stepped out into the ward room and began to pull out some clothes. "Contemplating. I don't know how I feel about it, but I wanted to put the idea to you anyway. ....What if we went back to the lab....just to get things?"

Sebastian raised his eyebrows in surprise, not having expected anything like this. "Well, I wouldn't mind that," he replied. "I'd feel better if we went with some very powerful guns, though. If that Abnormal is still there..."

"It was your place first," William muttered. "You lost your home. And while I think staying here is best...I'd like a place to go back to, if worst comes to worst...do you understand?"

Sebastian nodded, thinking again about his motorcycle. It would be amazingly useful to have that back, not to mention his food and water supply, ruling out contamination from the Abnormal. "Of course. Having a backup is always the smartest choice. And I really hate the idea of all my supplies rotting away down there..."

William nodded sympathetically. "If anyone asks, it wasn't my idea..but I think we should go. Well, I don't know what help I'd be, but...I can come if you'd like."

Sebastian tilted his head very slightly, thinking William was acting just a little strangely. "Well, of course," he replied, blinking. "You have belongings down there, too, don't you? And the rest of your research...where would I be without you, anyway?"

William began to dress, shielding himself from view subtly. "You'd still have a home," he supposed. "And yes...my research is still there...for what good it will be."

When William shielded Sebastian's view, the raven turned his gaze away and respected his privacy. "For what good it will be?" he echoed, sitting down on his bed. "Are you still stuck?"

William huffed. "Well, if it was easy, people would have figured it out by now," he grumbled. "But maybe my old research does hold something I can use. It's worth a shot, certainly."

Sebastian nodded in agreement. "Well, it'll be better than nothing. Honestly, I'll just be happy if my bike is still there, myself. It's maddening, having to drag corpses around by foot. I could save so much time if I had my motorcycle back..."

William pulled on a jacket then laced his boots. "It'd take us all day to get back on foot," he said, meeting Sebastian's eyes. "And with so many Reapers out and about, of late...well. We want to conserve our ammunition for the Abnormal, right? ...Should we take the portal?"

Sebastian frowned in thought as he zipped up his jacket. "Will it have enough energy?" he asked. "It would certainly save a lot of energy on our part. Significantly less walking and fighting, like you said...I'd rather do that."

"Yes, I took a look at the portal the other day and it only used half the first piece of fausalium I placed within it," William replied. "You go and get the weapons you need from the armory, and I'll get the portal up and running."

"All right." Sebastian stood up and nodded, hurrying off to the armory. He took two gas masks and two machine guns, and as many knives as he could carry, placing them strategically throughout his clothing. Once he did that, he felt better and more at ease with himself. It was something familiar. He made his way to the storage room that held the hospital's portal to meet William.

Guards had been posted inside the portal room once they knew the device was functioning, but they were two of the men William had been drinking with a month ago and they were amiable. They let him, and in extension, Sebastian, through to work with the portal. William powered up the device, and when Sebastian appeared with the weapons, the scientist armed himself.

Sebastian put his gas mask on, holding William's out to him. He had no idea if the Abnormal would still be there, but if it was, almost everything in there would be contaminated, even the air. They couldn't risk breathing the virus in.

William equipped it, and opened up the portal. They came through, guns raised and ready to fire, expecting a huge Abnormal to come roaring right at them. William was even silently reciting his mantra. But there was no Reapers in the lab-- just two men, staring up at them in wide-eyed surprise.

Claude Faustus actually froze in place like a deer in in headlights, making eye contact with both of them. This was the last thing he had expected to happen, with the last people he'd expected to see. 

Sebastian was much in the same for just a split second, standing beyond the threshold of the portal, staring at Claude and the mysterious albinistic man again -- this time, for reasons unknown, who was completely nude. 

The convict quickly raised his gun and pointed it at Claude's face, and the scientist recovered and stepped back, pulling a pistol -- which, he realized a little too late, was terribly nonthreatening compared to Sebastian's enormous machine gun.

The albino fell back onto his hindquarters, and started making a keening noise as he crept back towards Claude, his hand fluttering at his side. "Mmnnnnn! Mnnnnn!" 

William looked down when he heard the splashing of water. There it was, about a foot deep.   
"The place flooded?!" Somehow, that question rose above all other questions in priority.

Sebastian put the butt of his machine gun in the very center of Claude's chest. "I think we have more important things to worry about, Will," he said quietly, not looking away from Claude Faustus. "We certainly seem to run into each other a lot, don't we, Faustus?" he asked quietly, eyes narrowed. "Care to give me any reason why I shouldn't blow you to pieces right now? How did you find my lab?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" William's former colleague replied a little smugly. He raised his free hand and snapped his fingers loudly three times.

There was nothing, at first, and then a spine-tingling, blood-chilling roar came down from the tunnels.

The sound of the gun went off and sent Pluto running to hide under a desk. 

William had put a bullet in Claude's forearm, just to hurt him. It released a spray of blood as it impacted. "Send it away," he demanded, the whites of his eyes showing. "Send it away or I'll blow your goddamn brains out, Faustus."

"Send it away?" Claude replied sardonically, clutching his bleeding arm tightly. "But you haven't even seen it yet. Such a beautiful specimen...you would love it, William. You're on the wrong side of this fight...for science and progress, William! Don't you want to see what they can become?"

William grit his teeth and shot him again. This time it was his shoulder, the bullet lodging deep into the flesh and cracking the bone. 

"How many bullets can you take, Faustus, before you run out of blood?"   
Pluto howled, clutching his hands over his ears.   
"Send it away, and we'll talk. You'd better answer our questions quickly or you'll pass out."

Claude staggered back a few feet, the water sloshing around his ankles as he did, breathing hard, his pistol hand trembling. "I can't," he replied with a forced grin, laughing softly. "I can only make it arrive."

Crimson blossomed out from under his lab coat, and his laughter grew. "Have you found the answer yet to the riddle I left you last time? Why are they called Reapers? What does the Grim Reaper do?" He continued stepping back, even with Pluto now from his hiding spot. "He guides the dead into the next life." 

Sebastian was fairly trembling from head to foot from his effort to not murder this man and shoot him into an unrecognizable, bloody, bullet-filled pulp.

William clenched his fists. The sound of the creature approaching became louder. "You'd better learn how to get rid of it," he growled, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Or someone's going to die. I don't intend for it to be us. What about your ...savant? Do you want him to die?" 

Pluto made a sound that quite resembled 'NO', though it didn't seem like he was able to speak. Without a second thought the naked albino ran for the active portal and tossed himself through. 

William was almost relieved. He could never have shot an innocent.

Claude appeared alarmed and almost afraid when Pluto disappeared through the portal. He glanced between it and William, and then grit his teeth and fired his pistol at his old friend, landing a bullet right in William's stomach.

Sebastian let out a cry of fury, unable to hold back any longer, and a spray of bullets erupted from his gun. Claude received quite a few of them, but he turned and ran right past the oncoming Abnormal outside. Sebastian was held up by it and unable to chase Claude Faustus, but he was glad to take out his anger on this monster. Just like the one at the hospital wall, he planted the barrel right into the behemoth's mouth and fired, blowing its brains out. He didn't even stop there -- he emptied his bullets onto its face, reducing it to an unrecognizable pile of flesh and bone, even long after the monster was dead. 

With that done and Faustus gone, Sebastian dashed back inside to come to William's aid.

William had collapsed when he was shot, landing facedown in the water. He didn't make an attempt to get up, either...at least not until he was starting to pass out in his own blood. He rolled onto his back, and his head propped up against a chair leg. It was all that saved him from drowning.

"Sebastian?" he whispered, and he could taste blood on his lips. "Are you there? I'm afraid. I'm afraid. I don't want to die. Not like this."

Sebastian hurried to William's side, kneeling beside him and gritting his teeth as he looked over the wound. "You won't. You won't die. I won't let that happen," he whispered fiercely back. "The portal's still open. Let's get you back to the hospital so we can get that bullet out. Okay?"

William's fingers clutched Sebastian's shirt, fighting back fearful tears. "Don't leave me," he pleaded. "P-please." It was all he could do to pull himself closer to the man, the desperation evident in every touch.

"No," Sebastian said softly, wrapping his hand tightly around William's fingers. "No, I won't. I promise." Very carefully, he shifted one arm under William's knees, the other wrapping securely around his shoulders, and he picked William up bridal-style. The scientist was much lighter than he looked, and it was no great effort to carry him back through the portal. "I want to kill him," he whispered furiously. "I'll destroy him for that, William, I'll rip him to pieces with my own hands."

William shook his head lightly, but much too distracted to protest right now. "It h-hurts," he gasped. The guards were already dealing with the frightened autistic in the portal room when Sebastian came through with William. One pulled a radio out and called for paramedics, and a few minutes later Micah came hurdling around the corner with four other medics and a stretcher. 

William held Sebastian's hand like a lifeline, but when he realized that he might not die, he looked back up at him. "...Go back," he whispered. "Don't l-let it-- be for nothing.."

"Go back? To the lab?" Sebastian whispered, squeezing his hand. "Are you sure? Let me stay here with you. I won't let you die."

William mumbled something in response, and Micah turned to Sebastian. 

"S'aight, brother" he told him. "Will ain't dyin' on my watch, no 'e ain't. Go get wot ye went for...we'll deal with ya la'er." Without another word, they all bustled off with William, one guard following behind them with the wailing albino.

Sebastian nodded reluctantly and headed back through the portal. He would be doing a very thorough check through the place; the most obvious thing was that it had flooded. There was about a foot and a half of water throughout the entire laboratory, and after further investigation, it appeared that at one point during their absence, the entire complex had been underwater, exactly as William had once feared. 

The generators had blown fuses; they had short circuited during the flood. There were signs of fire, as well; walls and cabinets were charred. There was no electricity; the portal ran on the power of the Fausalium.

He didn't even bother checking the refrigerator; he knew the food inside would be rotten by now. However, by the looks of things, his food storage had not suffered too much damage, having been sealed shut inside cans and jars. They still appeared that way, and were possibly salvageable.

Still, everything around was soaked. His drug stashes had been completely destroyed by the water, and he had no idea where most of his alcohol went. His maps, books, and dirty magazines had all suffered the same fate, being far too waterlogged to be even remotely usable. Still, despite their mildewy, stale, musty smell, his bedding and spare clothes could all be saved with just a hot wash or two. 

He carefully checked the space heater he'd gotten the last time William was shot. It didn't appear to have been plugged in during the flood, so if it was fully dry, he was certain it could still be useable. He'd bring it back with them; he'd still never seen any around the hospital and it was damned cold in there. It was no small wonder Alan had contracted pneumonia; he'd lend it to him to help make him comfortable for however long he had left. 

All that was left was William's room, in the abandoned freezer. 

He opened the heavy door, and was greeted by the same sight as he'd always seen while they were living here. Everything was dry, and though it smelled a little dusty and stale, it was safe. William's research notes and belongings were on the shelves, so Sebastian began to gather them up and put them in his bag. The scientist would be very pleased about this.

The more medically sound people in residence took William away to perform surgery on him.   
William survived, though it was a close call. The bullet had taken in a piece of shirt with it, and that had to be removed as well or it would fester. But within two hours, he was sewn back up and left to recover in a properly equipped hospital room. 

Micah then took command of the frightened, naked albino. He sedated him a little, and gave him a gown to wear. But it seemed Pluto could give no information. He couldn't speak.

The last thing Sebastian did before heading back through the portal was check outside to see if any of his storage rooms were still intact. Instead, he discovered, to his absolute astonishment, his motorcycle sitting exactly where he'd last parked it, looking none worse for the wear. Disbelievingly, he mounted it and pulled his keys from his pocket, which had never left, pushing them into the ignition. The engine protested just a little bit, but quickly roared to life. Too excited to contain himself, he clutched the sides of his head and shouted victoriously, laughing hysterically. He leaned down across it and rubbed the purring motor's sides, nonsensically declaring "We're back, you gorgeous thing, oh!" 

He was very quick to load the bike up with everything salvageable from the lab that he could carry on it in one trip -- William's research and belongings, their clothes and bedding, some food storage and water, and some of the surviving scientific equipment -- flasks, beakers, microscopes.

Completely carefree now, convinced that if this miracle of his surviving bike had happened, then William would be all right too, he revved the engine and rode right through the portal.

Micah was waiting with Ronald and Eric when Sebastian returned. "...You've got some explainin' to do, brother," Eric said with a deep frown. At Micah's side, Pluto hummed anxiously, looking around with pale red eyes.

Sebastian looked at them in surprise upon his return, and killed the engine before climbing off the bike. He glanced at the four men in turn, then glanced between Pluto and the motorcycle, wondering which Eric meant. "Tell me first if William's all right," he replied, looking displeasedly at Pluto.

Micah ran a hand through his short red hair. "He'll live. And lucky we got them antibiotics, or it might've been a different story."

Then Eric stepped forward. 

"Using that thing without our permission, gettin' William shot...bringin' back foreign items, possibly carrying contagions...and a foreign person! Not just any person, a retard. What are we gonna do with 'im?! 'E can't work!"

"I told you he isn't retarded," Ronald whispered indignantly. "From his behavior he's completely autistic."

Sebastian sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "No one told me we needed your permission to use the portal," he responded; not in a mocking, condescending tone, but one he really meant. "William and I decided to go back to my old place to scope things out and see if there was anything worth salvaging. We weren't expecting to see an ex-friend of his and...and Pluto, here, to be on the other side."

"What's the difference?" Eric snipped back. "He can't function like a normal person. He wasn't even wearing clothes!"

Micah pouted. "I 'ad an autistic lil' brother, I did. He was great. And Will! He’s a high-functionin’ autie, I’d say. Asperger’s, y’know? Autistics just understand things differently."

"Okay, whatever," Eric said with a resigned huff. "The point is, ye put our home in danger. I want that portal shut down. No tellin' who or what can come through it."

Sebastian knew it was better that way, with people like Claude Faustus knowing there was a portal there, but it upset him all the same. "You can go ahead and scan the stuff I'm bringing through," he replied. "But we might need the portal in the future. What if there's some emergency and the portal's our only exit?"

"Won't happen. We have several evacuation plans," Eric replied matter-of-factly. 

Sebastian's things stayed behind to get scanned, but the group retired to the meeting room to discuss everything that had transpired after they entered the portal. 

"So, can we keep Pluto?" Micah asked. "Sounds like he could be useful, if we can find a way to get information outta him."

Ronald looked at Pluto, watching his behavior very carefully. "Maybe not for a while," he murmured. "I can't even tell how well he functions. This brand new environment full of strange people is probably completely overwhelming him. We might just have to wait until things settle down before we try to encourage speaking or any kind of communication at all. I think he's probably got something very important to him..." he glanced up at Sebastian. "You said you've seen him with this Claude Faustus, before?"

"Only once," Sebastian replied. "The last time we saw him. He's got some really shady connections to the Reapers."

Ronald rested his cheek on one hand. "Maybe...he's a savant," he muttered, mostly to himself. "Someone like that wouldn't just carry around someone this severely autistic for no reason. He might have some incredible hidden talent...maybe mathematical. I'll do what I can to get stuff from him."

Pluto hummed and rocked on his heels. Micah petted Pluto's silver hair, and the man didn't flinch away too badly. "Sebastian, you said he was by the portal when you came in? Maybe he knows how they work? What if he is a savant?" Pluto smiled then, humming. 

Eric sighed. "If this...man...is a super genius, I'll give everyone double rations of rum. We can keep him...and hope he can prove his worth." He sounded incredibly doubtful of Pluto's abilities.

"It's a complete wild guess," Ronald admitted. "But savants are commonly severely autistic, so maybe there's a chance. I'll see if I can stimulate him with some math problems or something to put that to the test."

"Good luck with that," said Eric. "Just another mouth to feed, that's all 'e is."

Pluto whined, his hand strumming against his thigh. Micah smiled. "He's so cute. Maybe he'd like Darwin, too!" 

"Anyways," said Eric, "We cannae do much right now. Shut that portal down. Make sure Will doesn't die. Go check on Alan, and I want double guard duty. Sebastian-- you're cleaning toilets for a week on top of body fetching for Giltine."

Eric left then and strode off in a huff.

Ronald nodded obediently, and Sebastian curled his lip slightly in a little sneer as Eric strode away. "Tyrant," the raven muttered under his breath. Then he said at his normal volume, "I want to see William before I do anything else."

William couldn't be seen until after surgery, but he made it through alright after a few hours. Being shot in the bowels had effectively poisoned his body, but the surgeons had repaired the damage very well. 

"He'll be in bed for a week or so," Micah informed Sebastian, "and he has to have a liquid diet for...prolly a month, I'd say. But otherwise...Will's pretty lucky. A shot there would be fatal without medical attention."

Sebastian sighed in resignation. "Well, luckily we live in a hospital," he muttered. "This is my fault...I should have shot that bastard down before he had a chance to get William. I could have broken that promise in good conscience."

"What promise?" asked Micah as they approached the resting William. 

Claude had been on a pedestal when he shot William, and it was a downward bullet trajectory. It entered his abdomen and gotten lodged below his kidneys, but they got the bullet out. Some color had returned to his face.

"Promised William he could kill Claude last time we saw him. He betrayed him and sold him to a Reaper-worshiping cult, and he told me to let him kill Claude. I promised, but..." Sebastian murmured as he sat down beside William. "He shouldn't have to get any blood on his hands if it comes to it. I'd rather do it for him, even if it might satisfy him for a while to do it himself."

"Way I see it," said Micah, "...you could beat the livin' shit outta this Claude fellow. Just let Will pull the trigger. If he's got a vendetta, well. We don't get many dirty vices in this world. Let 'im have it."

"I suppose so," Sebastian replied with a frown, running his fingers through William's hair. "Still...I shouldn't have held back. It's my hesitation that lead to this. For once I acted more human, and he paid for it. It isn't fair."

William whimpered softly at the touch; he wasn't far from consciousness. 

"Don't think like that," said Micah. "It's not acting human that's bad. Acting human towards a man with his gun pointed at Will is." 

Micah carded his fingers through his short, vibrant red hair. "I...have a twin brother. We got separated in the Third Wave...but he's out there, 'n I feel that he's alive. He's what I fight for...I know Charis and I will be reunited one day. Maybe it's on Earth...maybe it's in Heaven." 

He smiled a little at the man. "Just don't lose focus of what you fight for, okay? It'll help you get through."

Sebastian swallowed and nodded. "I don't know much what I fight for...before, I just survived for the sake of it, but now, I know...it's important to keep William alive. I guess he's who I fight for."

"I know," said Micah, and wrapped his freckled hand around Sebastian's to give it a comforting squeeze. "You keep 'im safe. He's good for you." He winked lightly, then left him alone with William.

Sebastian watched the Irish youth go, and then turned his attention back to William, sighing heavily at how pale the man looked. "Still...I'm sorry I let this happen to you, William," he murmured. "I should have stopped him the second he pointed his gun at you."

William didn't wake, but some of the tension and pain lines around his eyes faded noticeably as Sebastian sat by him and kept him safe.


	17. Tormentum

tw: gore, body horror. 

 

As Micah predicted, the bullet wound William had sustained meant he wasn't even able to walk without bleeding for at least a week. Eventually, however, he started to heal up.

Unfortunately, as William's health improved, Alan Humphries' health declined. Despite having antibiotics, his pneumonia was staying strong, leaving the frail man with near-constant fevers and deep, terrible coughs. It drove Eric to drink more and more frequently, and there was nothing that anyone could do for him except wait.

Sebastian was spending all of his time exclusively with either Ciel or William, otherwise seeing Ronald twice a week to just talk for cognitive therapy. He did his jobs, grudgingly, including the ordered toilet scrubbing. ("Tyrant," he'd mutter again every time he was reminded of his chore.) They settled back into a new routine for the following weeks, with William recovering and working to get his strength back. 

The routine was upset once more, about one week after William regained the ability to walk, by a radio call from one certain Agni Ghatak.

"Agni," said William with a fair amount of enthusiasm when he sat down by the radio to talk. "It has been many months. I missed your companionship. Are you well?" 

Pluto came bounding into the room and flopped into the pillows next to William. "Wan!" he barked, and William ruffled his white hair. He'd grown rather fond of the gifted young albino.

"Very, thank you," Agni replied, sounding very glad to hear William's voice again. "I was surprised to find Sebastian's place deserted, but I'm very relieved that you're still alive. That said, are you doing well? Where have you gone, friend?"

"You...have been there?" Surely it was quite recent, after the Abnormal's death. "I was shot, again, can you believe it? But I'm finally out of the wars. You say you visited our place? Perhaps you found the carcass of the unusual Sick One. We went through the portal to escape it, and ended up at the Royal London Hospital."

William scowled and sipped his tea. "Would you believe it? London..."

"Yes. I hadn't heard from you in some time, so I went for a visit...and when I found the corpse, I feared for your lives. I have never seen such a Sick One...and I pray I never have to see one alive." He sighed heavily, and it held just the faintest tremble to it. "Still...the London Hospital is safer than most places. Even if it is still here. But, you see, that is the reason why I called for you. I hoped you were still in the area, and we could perhaps meet again."

William colored faintly. "Oh, is that so? I would like that of all things, if you wished to come here. You could stay for a few days, even; for the most part, we are very hospitable."

Pluto made a sound that resembled a rough mimicry of the word 'hospitable', and he began to repeat it under his breath as he rocked.

"Actually..." there was a brief moment of hesitation. "...I'd like for you to come visit us here at the Hand of Kali. We are not far from the Royal London, and I would like very much to cook for you again, and not have to use the hospital's resources."

William blinked. "My dear friend...as tempting as that sounds, I am scarcely out of a hospital bed...and it is a long enough distance."

"Surely there is some sort of vehicle for you to use?" Agni persisted. "I trade with the Royal London quite frequently, and I know they have trucks at their disposal. I'm sure there is something smaller that you can use, and it would be much faster and much safer than walking."

"..." William found this odd, but didn't question it. "I'll see if I can arrange for someone to give me a lift out," he said eventually. "Is there some urgent reason you need to see me?"

"I..." here Agni hesitated again; he sounded like he was biting his lip. "...missed your company...very much," he murmured in a lowered voice. "I would like very much...to have the honor of having you in my arms again, warming my bed. I've longed for a more private meeting again since that day."

William went scarlet and hurriedly glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "A-ah..as tempting as that is...I really don't think I can come just to...I mean, I need to come back with something, my friend..."

"That is no trouble," Agni replied softly. "We will happily give you supplies, and information I cannot disclose over the air. But it is very good news, I assure you."

"Very well. I will start to make the preparations. I will leave tomorrow, Agni...and I'll be in contact if anything goes wrong. Take care." William smiled faintly at the thought of seeing him again.

"And you, as well, my friend." 

However, on Agni's end, once he had shut off his radio, he dissolved into tears -- and crimson stained his cheeks as he raised his shaking hands to conceal his face. "Oh, my friend, my friend, please forgive me," he choked out as he wept.

\----

William asked around that day for someone to drive him, and a man volunteered to do so, an older man who helped deliver bodies for Gabriel. So after a brief discussion with Sebastian, who had been a little scarce of late, and then with Eric, William had the go ahead to leave the next day.

Sebastian was pleased to hear of Agni's call; he knew William had missed him. "Agni, huh? That'll be nice for you," he told the scientist. "Tell him I said hello."

William rose early the following morning and took a shower, then packed his things. The man driving him was down in the tunnels, waiting with a vehicle, and William approached to greet him. 

"Good morning."

The stocky bearded man waiting for him wore a houndstooth driving cap pulled low, which obscured his eyes from view, making him rather anonymous. He took the cigarette from his mouth and flicked it away, saying nothing, and climbed into the driver's seat of the truck.

William didn't feel much like talking anyway, in fact he felt quite awkward, so he just tossed his bag into the passenger seat and pulled himself up into the truck. He didn't ask any questions, and simply strapped himself into the seat.

They didn't drive for long.

The man never even left the tunnels; at the first opportunity, the driver veered off to the left into a smaller, unlit tunnel. He then slammed on the breaks and lunged for the scientist, expertly clapping a chloroform-soaked rag over his nose and mouth before pulling a burlap bag over his head.

William was reeling from a blow that felt like it broke his nose when the chloroform rag went over his mouth. He struggled, crying out, but before he even pulled his gun from his belt, his movements became sluggish and eyes began to shut by themselves.   
Within the minute he was completely out cold.

The man dragged William through dark, damp tunnels for a while, and then it stopped. There was the gentle clink of coins being passed from one hand to another, and then silence.

The first thing William noticed when he woke up was the smell. The stench. It was death and decay and it was absolutely vile. He gagged, then slowly cracked his eyes. Darkness. The sound of growling and gurgling hit his ears next, and he squinted while his eyes tried to adjust. "Who-- who's there?! Hello?!" 

But he knew the smell. He'd been here before.

"Are you comfortable, scientist~?" Gabriel Giltine's voice croaked out from the shadows. "I hope the journey here wasn't too rough~"

William shifted, and he heard the clink of metal-- manacles, his hands bound behind his back. "..Who..who is that?!" the scientist asked, his heart beginning to race. "Is that you...Mr. Giltine?"

"The one and only," the coroner confirmed, spreading his arms as he stepped into the light. He leaned over William, his long, silver hair slipping down and tickling the scientist's neck, the smells of dust, embalming fluid, and formaldehyde sweeping down over him in addition to the ones of death and rotting flesh. "Surprised?"

William squinted at him and crinkled his nose. "Well...not really. After what Sebastian told me about you..." And what he'd seen when he snuck in here, of course. "Why have you brought me here?"

The Undertaker gently walked his slender, spidery fingers up William's chest. "Because...I've seen you poking your nose about where it doesn't belong," he said cheerfully, his searing green eyes glimpsing through a silver fringe. "And naughty little boys must be punished~"

William closed his eyes, inching away from the man's touch. "...You saw me....So...why didn't you stop me?"

"Obviously, I had to get you out of the picture without arousing any suspicion, did I not?" the mortician purred, drawing a scalpel out of his sleeve and beginning to draw it down William's chest, ripping open his clothing. "If I had taken you then and there...people would have gone looking~ and I can't just have everyone wandering in here, now, can I? Mr. Ghatak played his part so well~"

This sparked William's anger. 

"What did you do to Agni?!" he demanded, gritting his teeth and scowling as he was stripped from his shirt. "How could-- you're just the coroner! How did you manage this?!" he asked, quickly coming to the logical conclusion that Agni and the truck driver were connected to this man somehow.

A very smug smirk stretched across Gabriel's lips. "I am much more than just a humble coroner with a few screws loose," he tittered, systematically removing William's clothing with the scalpel. "I am the Undertaker. I created the Reaper virus, and I have countless eyes and ears; far, far more than you can begin to imagine. And I am going to ensure that you forget everything that you have learned about me thus far."

As the bomb dropped, William's mouth fell slightly agape. 

"Oh, god." A long moment passed where he could only stare in horror, and he instantly felt sick. "...N..no. No. You're lying!" he cried. "You can't be the--- the-- oh, no, no, no..."

"Oh, yes," the madman replied with an overly wide grin. "Oh, yes, indeed. How does that make you feel? Knowing I am responsible for the deaths of everyone you hold dear? That is power, my friend, having created something so catastrophic that it can end the world, and something that I and I alone can control."

"Hoh...." William stared at the floor for a long time as he let this settle in. "...You're going to kill me," he croaked after a few minutes. "Or turn me. Either one, right? I mean, I have no information that you couldn't possibly already know. There's no logical point to doing anything else with me...especially since the longer you keep me here, the longer you risk someone figuring out what's happened."

Gabriel pressed a black-tipped nail to William's lips to shush him, giving him a falsely kind smile. "Oh, no, I won't kill you. You and the criminal are much too fun to just kill. What I don't know is exactly how much you know...and I plan to learn it, and then wipe it from your miiiiiiind." He made a comical squeaking noise from the back of his throat, making a sweeping motion from his hand. "Like a clean slate."

William's lip trembled and he struggled to stiffen it. Best to get it over with, surely. "And you'll let me go once you've wiped it?" he asked, some small part of him daring to hope. What would be the point in wiping it otherwise?

"Perhaaaaps," the coroner mused. "I haven't decided yet. If I get bored enough, though, I might just experiment on you instead, and release you into the hospital as a mindless slave of mine, yes~"

William felt the fear truly sink in now, his heart rate rising higher and higher. "All I saw was a note...that said...the cultists want to see the...Evolved one..." he muttered. "And your experiments. That's honestly all I saw, I swear to god. And I haven't told anybody. I haven't. Please...please just let me go."

"Oh, my, my, my, myyy -- oh, you poor, naïve thing!" Gabriel laughed cruelly. "If only it were that easy for you! No, dear boy, you're going to tell me everything you saw, in exact detail."

There was nothing William could do but spill everything he’d done from the moment he slipped into the morgue to the moment he fled, his mouth running as fast as he could draw breath. He wanted nothing more than to be freed, because god forbid he be subjected to Gabriel's experiments. 

"Please...that really is...everything...that I know." He looked up at him, trembling with fear he simply couldn't control, because no one knew he was down here. They all thought he was off to see Agni for a couple of days. No one would come looking. 

"Please."

"Really, where do you think pleading will get you?" the mortician replied with a soft chuckle. "You really are naïve. Poor, sweet, sheltered scientist..." Now he began scratching the razor sharp instrument down the center of William's chest, only hard enough to make small droplets of blood rise up to the surface. "My fun with you has only just begun."

William knew trying to reason with him was now useless, so he kicked out, and headbutted, and writhed and struggled as much as he could. He screamed and shrieked and called for help. But Sebastian did not come. Nobody came, and William was all alone as this man cut at his chest and spilled his blood for fun.

Gabriel took care to make certain that William was very firmly strapped down and handcuffed to the table with the finest steel available. They were so secluded from the rest of the hospital, and the coroner had taken such great pains to soundproof the morgue to hide aural evidence of his experimentation, that William's screams would never travel to anyone's ears.

Just for fun, just for the very amusement of it, the Undertaker began breaking William's fingers, one by one. He snapped them as if they were twigs, and smiled merrily down at him all the while.

No matter how hard William screamed, nobody came to see him, and eventually his voice gave out. With his long, slender fingers broken, he could only sob hoarsely. And he never forgot that the Undertaker's captive reapers were only a metre away, snarling and snapping at him the whole time.

As casually and calmly as one preparing tea, Gabriel edged the scalpel under one of William's fingernails, slowly prying it off of the finger. "Tell me, Dr. Spears...how do you feel about creating a cure, now?" he murmured. "I could destroy all of your research in a blink if I wanted to. Why stunt the growth of science, doctor?"

William refused to give in so easily. "I'm going to get out of here," he rasped, "and I'm going to develop a cure...and I'm going to kill you with my bare ha--aaghh--! No, no, stop--!"

"No good!" the madman crowed with delight. "No good, no good!!" There was a little more tedious working of the scalpel, and then William's entire fingernail broke off from the skin, sailed a couple of feet away, and then landed on the floor with a quiet tap. The flesh where the nail once was bled profusely. "Big talk from such a small pup~!"

By the time Undertaker had peeled off the last of his 10 fingernails, William had stopped screaming. It had dissolved into agonized moans, but little more. It was still pain beyond belief, but it had lost its edge.

Gabriel Giltine slipped off into the shadows again for an hour after that, letting William's pain numb down a little. The intention was to make him lower his guard. The only sound came from William's moans of pain, and the Reapers' inhuman, guttural moans of hunger. 

When the mortician returned, he carried a box of matches and an enormous, shit-eating grin, and this time, he hopped up onto the exam table he'd strapped William to, sitting on his stomach and straddling it. He'd tied his grizzly mane back into a very loose, uneven braid, but it kept it out of his face, for the most part. "I want to see every single expression you make," he whispered gleefully. "Every..." he pushed the box open, "...last..." withdrew a match, "...one." struck it on the box, and dropped the flame right onto one of William's fresh wounds.

William threw his head back and screamed with all his might when he was burned. He screamed and sobbed and fought until his manacles wore bloody red marks into his wrists.   
The burn scars over his rib cage stung worse than ever, but if it was possible...the fire did more damage psychologically than it did physically. 

"No-- help me-- Someone please, help me--!" 

"Nooo oooone can heeeaaar youuu," the Undertaker replied in a sing-songy voice, striking the second match. He lowered the burning head to William's throat, and slowly dragged the flame across it. "Noooo oooone at aaaaaalllll~~"

William turned his head to the side and vomited, sobbing weakly. "No-- no, let go of me! He needs me! F-father!" 

The memories blossomed in his head, memories he'd tried hard to suppress. Back at the beginning of the Outbreak, William and his father hadn't suspected a thing. As soon as word started spreading like wildfire about a highly contagious, fast-acting disease spread by saliva that caused madness and violence, the people of London went wild. 

They'd broken into riot and started raiding the streets for supplies, especially medical. William and Michael Theodore Spears had been innocent pharmacists, and hadn't seen it coming when fear-crazed people broke into their shop, knocking them out instantly before stealing their supplies and setting fire to the building on their way out. 

William awoke and ran outside, but the moment he realized his father wasn't outside he'd hurried right back in. 

A burning beam fell on him, and this was where he'd sustained his severe third-degree burns to his left side. While he was shrieking in agony, firemen arrived and pulled the beam off, dragging him back into the open air. 

"No, father!! Father!" And he'd watched the building collapse before his very eyes, with his father still inside. There hadn't even been a body found, and no matter how William shrieked under Undertaker's hand, he couldn't convey the agony he felt as his body burned once more and his mind began to crack. 

Match after burning match dropped onto William's skin, and the cruel mortician shrieked with laughter as he dripped hot wax from a burning candle onto his nipples and his face. "He can't hear you~" he gasped out between breaths of laughter. "He can't, 'cos he's dead, and you couldn't save him~ You didn't save him -- you killed him, you killed him! Poor little bastard~ Hasn't got his daddy 'cos he killed him~!"

"No, no!! Stop! It was an accident!! I tried to save him, I tried, I tried! They wouldn't let me go!" 

William didn't even care how the mortician knew about this. He'd never been tortured in his life, and Gabriel had hit the nail right on the head if he wanted to get something that struck a nerve with the scientist. 

By the time Gabriel was finished with this, William was broken, and he went quiet, staring at the ceiling.

Gabriel Giltine was shaking with the force of his suppressed laughter. Burnt matches littered William's body and the space around him, smoke rising from the freshest ones. "You didn't fight hard enough~ You didn't want him to live, or you would have tried harder, wouldn't you?" He giggled, very high-pitched and wild, the only sound above the moans of the reapers surrounding them.

The scalpel appeared in the coroner's fist again, and he played the blade along his victim's lips.

"I tried, but.." William whispered, blood being accidentally spat from his lips as he spoke. "I tried." And he believed that much, at least. His body bore the scars of these attempts. His eyelids flickered, threatening to close on him. He'd never been in so much pain, at least not since the fire itself.

"Trying is nonsense," his torturer whispered into his ear, producing a long strip of black silk from a hidden pocket. He began binding William's eyes with it, shutting out all light and movement for him. "You either achieve something or you do not. There is no trying. You did not. You failed, and now he's gone forever because of you~"

William lay limp against the table, his scorched body going still. "Shut up," he mumbled, feeling blood drip down his chin.

"Are you bored already?" the Undertaker replied with a pout, pressing the scalpel harder against William's lips, down until he could feel the man's teeth. "You're not being a very fun toy...I suppose I'll have to start rough housing..."

He took the scalpel and returned it to William's chest, right on the thin line he had carved before. This time, however, he made a deep incision right in the center of his torso, smiling wickedly.

William hissed, writhing under the scalpel. But it was almost like nothing could hurt him as much as what Gabriel had just done. Blood was drying beneath him and on his skin, he ached all over...but this didn't even bother him too much.

Gabriel sensed this, and curled his lip back in a sneer. For now, he withdrew the scalpel, and took it away with a scoff. "Dear me, I've climaxed too soon," he murmured, unable to help a giggle at the innuendo. "I'll have to save this for another time. Oh, I do hope you look forward to it, though...~"

William closed his eyes behind the cloth. It helped shield him from the harsh light. He ignored Gabriel, and passed out for a good few hours while he tried to recover from his injuries.

\--------------------------

That was the only time Undertaker allowed William to sleep. He allowed it to last as long as until the next day, and he woke him by dumping a bucket of dirty snow onto him. "Rise and shine, Doctor~" he trilled. "The day has begun!"

William startled awake, gasping. The cold snow seeped into every wound in his body and made it burn. "Oh--!" He couldn't see, due to to the blindfold, but he knew where everything was already. "Gnh...hh...!"

Gabriel laughed behind his sleeve, leaning over William and spreading the snow around the man's body. "It's very cold outside, today~ how do you feel?" he asked between giggles.

William gasped and writhed at the sensation of snow being spread over him.   
"Oh--god..it hurts..everything hurts..." he whimpered. "S-s-so cold."

The coroner leaned against the examination table William lay upon, and watched a timer in his hand for a while, saying nothing. After five minutes of letting the snow melt onto William's body, he produced a bucket of scalding hot water, and poured that over the scientist instead. "There!" he cried jubilantly. "Isn't that better?"

The screaming rang out again, and lasted for several minutes while the water scalded and burned his torn body, leaving shiny red burns and blisters. It only stopped because William's voice eventually gave out again, and he was reduced to whimpering.

Before the hot water could even finish running off the poor man's body, a fresh bucket of snow was overturned onto him. "Dear, dear, make up your mind! After I'm going to all this trouble for you!"

William went limp again, the drastic changes in sensation proving too much for his tortured mind. He shivered and whimpered, whispering 'Please stop' under his breath.

Gabriel took a handful of snow and rubbed it into William's face with a smirk. "And what makes you think I will?" he taunted softly.

"N-nh..." William turned his head to the side again, shivering. "Are you going to...let me go to the toilet..?" he mumbled, since it had been in the back of his mind.

"And risk your escape?" the coroner giggled. "Certainly not. You'll have to shame yourself. And I'll watch, and laugh every time~"

William deflated a little. He hadn't expected much. "You're sick," he whispered simply, trying not to cry. "So...fucking sick." 

At least he wasn't being recorded, to the best of his knowledge.

Unfortunately for him, he was. Undertaker recorded every second of every procedure to watch again later, to observe the results and probably get off to them.

And if nothing, Undertaker was a man of his word. 

He refused William any sort of proper toilet, not even a bucket to relieve himself in. He did not want the slightest chance of the scientist's escape. Underestimating your prey was always the most fatal mistake, and Gabriel Giltine was not going to make it. William was forced to shame himself in every possible way, and was cleaned by being stripped naked and hosed down with the scalding water again, to avoid infections. One thing was certain; he was determined to not let him get sick, no matter how horribly he was tortured. He wanted William fully awake and aware of every single method of torture.

Undertaker would perform strange surgeries on the poor scientist, denying him anaesthetics, forcing him to watch in horror as his own flesh was cut open and tampered with. Strange implants went inside seemingly random places. Rubber gloved fingers prodded this way and that, and pearly white teeth flashed in a cruel grin at the man's agony. 

There never seemed to be an end to the coroner's cruelty. He experimented with William, not only inside, but outside, and mentally, depriving him of as much sleep as possible. The cold snow would be dumped onto him whenever his heart rate dropped with his need for sleep, ensuring that he got not a wink. He kept him blinded at all times that there was not a surgery occurring. He taunted him constantly about his dead father, and tormented him with fire.

William was force-fed water to keep hydrated, and fed some unidentified meat, something that smelled like beef and tasted like veal, to keep energized, just enough to keep him from starving. Undertaker would force a tube down William's throat if his victim refused to eat or drink, declaring that he must 'eat all his vegetables or he wouldn't get any dessert!' On top of that, he always treated William’s wounds -- not for William’s relief, but to prevent infection. He was very, very careful of that, always using sanitized equipment of the highest quality available.

There really did seem to be no end. 

William's self esteem and dignity had taken such severe blows that even being forced to mess himself (something that came out as a bloody liquid flux, if that was any testament as to how ill he was getting) barely fazed him anymore. In fact, it was easier to just go when he felt the need, rather than suffering in vain for a toilet he'd never get to use. 

But even though he was sick, it was never sick enough. Not enough to just die, which the broken doctor was beginning to sorely wish for. He felt things beneath his skin, itching, creeping. And he was almost, almost glad for the lack of sleep because what nightmares it would bring didn't bear thinking about. 

And yesterday he'd started to wonder just what it was that he was being fed. 

It had been an entire week that he'd been down in the psychopath's morgue...and William had given up hope of ever being found. The light in his eyes had faded.

"Oh, dear," the mortician declared theatrically on the seventh morning. "I've almost run out of things to do to you...does that please you, Doctor Spears?" he asked, leaning his elbows on William's stitched-up chest, resting his chin on his spindly, laced-up fingers.

William didn't raise his head. It wasn't as if he could see his captor anyway. "Yes," he whispered simply. "I must apologize for not being as...entertaining a torture captive as you might have desired...you grew bored of me."

"Bored?" the coroner echoed incredulously, and then filled the chamber with a peal of shrill, hysterical laughter. "My dear man, don't be daft! I'm not bored with you! I've merely saved the very best for last!"

Nothing that Undertaker did really fazed him anymore. William's shoulders just slumped further. "Go ahead...enlighten me," he whispered, wondering if today was the day he was killed.

"Your reaction," the mortician giggled, his mouth behind a draping sleeve. "To a bite~"

William felt his heart stop. "No...!" he whispered. "No, not...not that..! Gabriel...G...no. No, no, no!" he pleaded, quickly dissolving into panic mode with a passion he didn't even know he still had.

"Oh, yes!" the crazed Undertaker cried with glee. "Very much, yes! Oh, I can't wait for you to meet the specimen I've picked out to try on you~ I call her Ginger," he said fondly. "I'm sure you'll just love her~"

William screamed and protested as loudly as he could. "Don't do this! Please, no, I don't want to become a Reaper, please!" This frightened him more than anything else, and it was the moment he realized he didn't actually want to die. 

William screamed until his voice threatened to die again, and he pissed himself, for all the good it did him. 

"I'll do anything...!"

The madman giggled again at the spectacle, dancing his fingers along the deliberately clumsy stitches he'd left on the scientist's chest. "Unfortunately, Doctor Spears...there's nothing else that I want from yoooouuuu," he sang cheerfully, eyes gleaming with anticipation from behind his fringe. 

From his pocket, he withdrew a syringe, and showed it to William. Inside it was a faintly blue liquid. "Do you know what this is?"

William was shaking like a leaf, knowing his time had come. "...How the h-h-hell would I know?" he whispered, hoping against hope that it was cyanide, and William would be spared consciousness for his death.

"Oh, I don't know. I was just checking," the Undertaker replied with a snicker as he administered whatever was in the syringe into William's bloodstream. "It leaves me the pleasure of watching you squirm and cry out in fear like a little child for his mother~ or his dear, dead daddy, in this case~"

William grit his teeth and waited, but no hints of cyanide poisoning came upon him. "Just get it over with then," he choked out, tears seeping into his blindfold and leaking down his cheeks. 

"Just do it."

Which monster would it be? As far as William knew, none of the ones in this room were female except the horrid little crab-baby. What could be worse than that?

"You give up so easily," Gabriel whispered softly into William's ear as he removed the blindfold. He looked the crying man in the eyes and licked the tears away from the fabric before tossing it aside, appearing to relish it. 

He disappeared off into the shadows again for a few minutes. When he returned, he was accompanied by slow, heavy, lumbering footsteps, and the clinking of a heavy chain. When he emerged into the light once more, he carried the chain, and plodding behind him was the most enormous, far-advanced Abnormal Reaper ever seen. It was absolutely impossible to tell what its sex was -- all its sexual organs had either been surgically removed or perhaps evolving had simply taken them out of the equation since they were no longer necessary for reproduction. Either way, even its very figure, for all its bulk and raw power, was too androgynous to even let one hazard a guess. Unlike the other Abnormals, this one was not rotting off its very bones -- it was fresh, and clean, and strong. 

It -- she -- whichever, stared scrutinizingly down at William -- it wasn't merely looking at him, it was examining him, evaluating him. It let out a snarl, spit flying out of its mouth, and it lunged toward William, but the Undertaker calmly pulled the chain sharply, cried "Heel, Ginger!"...and the monster obeyed.

William took one look at the monster leaning over him before hurling himself forward, as fast as he could. There was the distinct snap of his shoulders dislocating, and to his pure dismay, the inertia slammed him right back against the cold, wet surgical table. 

"What is that?!" he shrieked in a frenzy, writhing with desperation to get away.

"Progress!" the Undertaker proclaimed with utmost pride, throwing his hands into the air, the chain jingling with the motion. "The future! Science! Isn't it just grand?! Isn't Ginger just the most beautiful creature you've ever seen?"

"What have you done?" William demanded. Even in his broken, frenetic state, he still knew how this boded for the world. "You're going to suffer for this...these crimes against nature...One day..." he mumbled weakly under his breath, all of a sudden, he'd run out of puff. Resignedly, he finally raised his head. 

"...Just do it."

Gabriel stroked the behemoth's arm fondly, looking up at it like a proud parent adoringly gazed upon their child. "Ignore him, Ginger, he's just such an awful philistine. No appreciation for art." 

He lead it to the foot of the table William was shackled to. "Don't be so hasty for your demise, dear William. I want to give you a glimpse of what you're to become, first."

William moaned in pain. The mortician had performed some kind of head surgery on him too, and it gave him blinding headaches. One had just come upon him after the exertion of his latest fit. 

Squinting through the dim light, which was too sharp even now, he watched the horrible thing. 

"Ugh...ugliest thing I've..ever seen. Your worst m-mistake yet. Garbage," he taunted. Weak insults began to flow from his lips. 

"It looks like a half baked pig's cunt. How many...how many times have you shoved your pathetic little c-c-cock inside it, Giltine?"

Gabriel took no offense to the taunts -- they were too weak, coming from the mouth of a tortured, exhausted, certainly jealous man. "Oh, times enough," he replied airily, giving Ginger's arm another stroke. "Many when she was a human being like you and I, and many more the more beautiful she became." He tilted his head and smiled serenely. "Ginger is my masterpiece. She was the very first Reaper I created successfully. You will never find another beauty like her. Ohh, the others will try -- imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all -- but none will capture the sublime beauty of the Alpha."

He stepped aside, but only with the smallest bit of distance -- it was only to reach for a lever on the wall, the same levers that brought the scalding water. "But enough of my gushing -- goodness, I've embarrassed myself some~ Please pay very close attention. You might not believe your eyes, but I assure you every second of what you are about to see is quite real."

He pulled a lever and then stood up straight, smiling as ever. Something clacked up in the ceiling, like something unlocking. Then, a great, silver guillotine blade came crashing down, cleanly cutting off Ginger's entire left arm, and missing the Undertaker by mere inches.

The beast shrieked and roared in pain as blood gushed from its wound, soaking the creator, who merely basked in it. "Steady, Ginger, steady!" he cried to her with a jubilant grin, restraining it with the chain. "We don't want our dear guest to miss the best part, do we?"

William vomited the moment the imagery of Giltine fucking a Reaper entered his head. It actually affected him worse than seeing the freak have one of her arms lopped off. In fact, it barely fazed him in comparison. What did catch his eye was seeing her bend over, shaking, and the bloody stump that remained of her arm burst out with new flesh, muscle and bone. 

Before his eyes, Ginger's arm regenerated perfectly.

Gabriel grinned with all the pride in the world, caressing Ginger's newly-regenerated arm. The monster moved the arm mechanically; it was a motion it was very familiar with. If it were not for the heavy amount of blood spattered about the area, one never could have known that the arm was brand new. Fingers flexed and a fist was clenched. The monster continued to moan and roar in protest, lifting Giltine off the ground, but he paid it no mind, simply showering it with praise. "Goood, very good~!"

William spat out the last of the bile and watched in horror. "It's capable of massive cellular regeneration? Perfect...perfect cell memory. It's..." Amazing was what he wanted to say, but he finished with "Disgusting. Is this...all you wanted to show me?"

The Undertaker wriggled free and dropped down to the floor, still holding Ginger's chain tight. "Show you, hmmm..." He bent down as he murmured, "Perhaps one more thing..." He hauled the enormous arm up, which was as large as himself. "I can't let your next meal go to waste, ehehehe~"

William narrowed his eyes. 

"I'm...not...eating that," he whispered, his malnourished chest deflating in almost slight relief. He closed his eyes to block out the sight of Ginger, though it didn't help with the sound.

The coroner grinned wickedly, letting the arm drop with a sickening splat. "Yes, you will. You already have," he replied smugly, guiding Ginger closer to the poor scientist. "From the very beginning~"

William closed his eyes tighter. "No, no," he said defiantly. He refused to believe it. The moment he believed it, he knew his mind would crumple. 

"Go away. Just leave me alone.."

"When cooked...it smells like beef and tastes like veal. Does it not? I always see the look of puzzlement on your face whenever I feed you. You didn't know what it was...it was unlike anything you'd ever had before, wasn't it?" the Undertaker murmured, looming over him.

William's breathing grew more rapid, and he writhed in protest. "No. No...!" he growled. "I won't...I won't! Get..away, I.." He gagged a little and he threw up the last of whatever remained (of the exact same meat he'd been fed last time) and he passed out.

Undertaker snorted impatiently and was quick to hose him down with scalding hot water again. "No, no, my dear man! You musn't sleep, you musn't sleep! How else will I watch you scream as Ginger samples you?"

At these words, a tremor of desire and excitement went through the monster, its piercing green eyes fixed ravenously on William. It moved closer, only barely able to hold itself back because Undertaker had not yet given his word.

William was literally paralyzed with fear when he was awoken again, his body in faint tremors. 

He let out a weak whine, but his jaw had locked firmly. "Nn...nngh..."

So this is what it had come to. The grand finale.

The Undertaker produced another syringe, stuck one of William's veins with it, and filled him with an unknown liquid. He then stepped back and clicked his tongue. "Feed, my dear," he whispered in anticipation.

Ginger lunged forward and sank her claws into William's body for leverage, took William's entire right arm into her mouth, and ripped it viciously from his body as if it was made of nothing more than paper. There was the terrible sound of bones snapping in its mouth as it gnawed the man's arm, roaring as it was finally allowed some food.

The sound William made was inhuman, a tortured shriek of horror. The corners of his mouth split and blood spurted, though it was nothing compared to the gory remains of his arm. 

And then nothing could stop him from blacking out this time. All that he remembered as everything went dark was the feeling of bone slowly growing back...

The Undertaker's laughter filled the morgue again as he pulled Ginger back to restrain her and put her back away. The experiment had been successful, far more than he had hoped for. He was able to get William to regenerate without having the Reaper virus turning him into one. The regenerative ability would wear off in a few days, of course, once it had made it through William's system. He would simply dispose of the broken scientist after that. He’d never intended to let him leave alive, after all.


	18. Hear My Plea

William got the most amount of sleep he'd received since first being locked up, once he blacked out. But when he finally woke up, there was nothing he wanted more than to never wake up again. 

He didn't care about the experiment. All he knew was that he was Infected. Sooner or later...he'd turn. His life was over.

It was quiet in the morgue, save for the low moans of the normal Reapers chained to the walls as usual. Undertaker seemed to not be around, or at least not in that particular room at the moment. It had been over a day since his arm had been devoured, and a brand new one had taken its place. 

That quiet was broken suddenly by gunfire by the entrance, and an alarm blaring. Someone was forcing their way in.

William barely roused at the sound of all the banging. The Reapers made a lot of noise, and he'd learned to tune it out. But when the alarm began to sound, he forced his eyes open weakly. 

His vision was..different, somehow. He could barely see. What was poor eyesight to begin with had progressed...now, he could barely see a foot in front of himself. Was he going blind, he wondered, as some sort of side effect? 

Well, there was no time to worry about that now. What had gone wrong? 

Was there another Reaper attack?

The main entrance door was kicked in, and heavy footsteps came crashing down into the morgue. 

In moments, the gunfire was right by William, and one by one, the moans of the surrounding reapers ceased.

Then came Sebastian's voice: "William. Will, can you hear me?" as other men came tromping through the morgue.

William had closed his eyes tightly, curling up as best he could. That was Sebastian's voice, without a doubt. But there was no way he could be here. Nobody knew he was down here, and he'd long since given up hope of being rescued. 

As a result, he didn't respond to him.

A hand was set firmly, but not roughly, onto William's shoulder, and there was the sound of the locks being forced open. "William," Sebastian repeated. There was the faintest tremor in his voice, laden with guilt. Shouts came from further into the morgue, followed by more rapid gun fire. People were breaking into every crevice they could see, killing Reapers left and right. "William, say something, just -- tell me you're all right. Please."

"Hey, someone!" William called out. "Am I actually speaking to Sebastian right now?"

"Yes!" A random voice called back. "He's right beside you!" 

William still didn't seem very convinced. Perhaps it was one of Giltine's tricks. It had to be.

The raven broke all of the manacles and leaned closer to William, slowly waving his hand in front of the tortured scientist's face, and balking when no response was made to the movement. "What did that son of a bitch do to you?" he whispered, trembling with anger. "Did he make you go blind?"

William squinted up at him. There it was...a blur that he recognized as Sebastian. He wasn't blind yet. But his eyes really did feel strange, and if he could have looked in a mirror, he would have noticed that his beautiful glacial blue eyes had changed to a citrusy green, with an inner circle of yellow. 

"Save me," he whispered.

The moment the phrase was uttered, Sebastian had William in his arms and bolted, eager to get him to safety. He was nearly to the door when his path was suddenly blocked by Ginger, who seemed to have come from nowhere. Sebastian stopped in his tracks, petrified for a split second before pointing his gun at her. The bullets he fired were simply pushed out of the flesh, which quickly healed itself.

"W-what is this..."

William was unconscious again, still quite expecting to wake up with Giltine leering over him, laughing at his foolishness and brandishing a blade with which to chop off another part of William's body. 

He could do nothing to help Sebastian escape from Ginger. He knew what she was capable of.

Sebastian shot at her face now, taking a few steps back, even as he held William protectively. His face was white as a sheet -- this Abnormal was twice the size as the others. He doubted that a cannon could even take this thing out.

Gabriel Giltine had locked himself in his office once the morgue had been stormed. 

"Oh, this is a little problem," he murmured to himself, allowing a small frown to touch on his scarred face. He packed a few important documents into his robes and pushed his bookcase aside to reveal a secret doorway. 

"Looks like my time here is up!~ Go and thrive, my sweet Ginger! Feed and have plenty!" he crowed, inputting a code into a panel. The door unlocked, then locked behind him as he climbed in and made his escape.

Other men came to assist Sebastian, armed with heavier guns, to shoot her in the face. She knocked them down like bowling pins with her heavy, clublike arms, and emitted a deafening roar that nearly shook the room.

Ginger belted Sebastian to the floor with the full strength of her arm, and William went flying. He hit his head hard, and then he felt warmth seeping through his hair-- blood, undoubtedly. But it served to wake him up long enough to scream, "RUN!"

"Not without you, I'm not!" Sebastian bellowed back, scrambling up to his feet. He staggered over to William and shifted him back into his arms. Ginger towered over them, and the other men distracted her while Sebastian worked on just getting William out of the morgue. He couldn't even see what was wrong with his friend -- he didn't see any scars or burns or anything on William's body. Even, he realized with a jolt, the heavy burn scars he had seen before had vanished. There was no sign of it, and no sign of his bullet wound, either. The skin was unmarred and perfect.

He didn't have time to marvel over it. He just had to get out.

One by one, the rescue party escaped, William with them, others setting fire to Undertaker's work with the knowledge that the morgue was sealed off and could contain a fire without risk of it spreading through the rest of the hospital. The last man made it out, and the doors were shut and sealed behind them, locking Ginger in, where hopefully she would burn into a crisp.

William slipped in and out of conscious the entire time, but his head wound had healed right over. It was gone. 

"Se...Se..no...you need to leave," he wept. "I'm i..I'm i-infected. I was b-bitten!" he cried, and he started to struggle out of his grasp.

Sebastian tripped and dropped William out of pure shock and utter horror. "W-what?" he whispered disbelievingly. "N...no, that can't...that can't be true."

William slowly sat back up, the look on his face saying all that needed to be said. "I can't...I'll c-contaminate..." He looked back at the morgue. "They'll kill me anyway. I m-might as well..."

Sebastian looked desperately over William, who was still nude from the whole ordeal, and saw not a scratch on him. "B-but where? How? There isn't a single mark on you," he gasped. "It...I won't believe it. You have to make a cure, and...and I..."

William turned his back to conceal his nakedness. "I was bitten by her!" he cried. "The one that regenerates. That virus, it's.. it's...inside me!" He tried to take a step back to the fire, but his weak legs gave way and he collapsed.

"But you're not showing any of the symptoms," Sebastian whispered urgently, forcing William away from the morgue, pulling him away from the sealed off place. "N-no, you -- you have to have imagined it -- "

"I'm n...I'm not," William gasped. "She took my whole left arm...my arm...she ripped it off...and she ate it...I'm not imagining it! It happened! It really happened! A-aagh--! Get her away--!!" he shrieked, beginning to panic.

Sebastian shook his head and picked William back up, refusing to let himself believe it. "No. No, that's impossible -- you can't just grow a whole arm back -- he gave you nightmares, that son of a bitch tortured you, I'm sure -- it's what Agni said."

William thrashed about in panic, then he retched up a bit of bile onto the floor and passed out again. Micah and a surgeon were waiting in the infirmary, but William had not a scratch on him. They didn't know what to do.

Sebastian refused to leave William's side, in complete and absolute denial of the possibility that William was infected. "Look at him! He doesn't have a damn scratch on him! How could he have possibly been infected?!" he demanded of the surgeon present.

Micah was whiter than usual. "I-if 'e said...said 'e was infected...I-I mean...that sounds like somethin' Giltine'd do, I knew 'e was bad news, I knew 'e was, I did!" He rubbed his forehead anxiously. "Where's Ron?"

"Here, I'm here!" the blond gasped as he hurtled into the room, red-faced and out of breath. "The morgue's been sealed off! Everything should burn itself off soon...no sign of Giltine..."

Micah ran to Ronald's side. "Ron," he gasped, clutching his hands. "Ron, Will says he's ...infected," he said in a whisper. "

William let out a moan, beginning to stir.

"He isn't," Sebastian protested adamantly, but Ronald gave Micah's hand a tight squeeze, looking horrified. He stared down at William, automatically taking a wide step away from him. 

"But...w-where's the bite? He's..."

Micah looked between them. He'd pulled a rosary from inside his shirt and was clutching it with his spare hand. "We have to be sure," he said as firmly as he could muster. "We need a...a sc...a scientist, we need Alan."

"Can Alan even get up at this point?" Ronald whispered, resting a hand over Micah's that held the rosary. "We can't risk any infection...William needs to be quarantined..."

"Yeah, we'll quarantine 'im, strap 'im down real tight. Sedate 'im," Micah decided, nodding quickly. "And we'll see how Al's feelin'.."

"H-help me.." William rasped suddenly, his eyes fluttering open. "Giltine-- don't-- don't let him--!"

Sebastian lurched forward and seized William's hands, squeezing them tightly. "He's gone," he whispered urgently. "He won't hurt you. I won't let him. I'll fucking kill him, William, I will. I won't let him hurt you ever again."

Ronald bit his lip. "We need to get Sebastian out of here. Strap him down if you have to; we can't risk anything spreading. And get Alan..."

Micah had gone still, staring at William. "Lookit th'colour of 'is eyes. I tell ya, they weren't bloody green before!" 

William was not convinced he was safe, and began to thrash. This did not help his situation. 

"Remember-- it can only spread if he bites you. You lot restrain 'im, I'll get Al!"

The Irishman then ran from the room.

Ronald, for his part, dashed forward with the surgeon and began strapping William firmly down. It took the two of them together to separate Sebastian from him, and Sebastian thrashed and fought as hard as he could to stay with William. He never stopped fighting even once he was strapped down to a separate bed, shaking his head violently and crying out. 

"NO! DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU TAKE HIM FROM ME! HE'S FINE!! THERE ISN'T ANY POSSIBLE WAY HE'S INFECTED; DON'T YOU DARE!"

"We're not taking him anywhere!" the surgeon cried helplessly as he prepared his serum gun and jabbed William firmly in the side with it. In truth, he would have much rather jabbed Sebastian.

Micah returned five minutes later with both Alan and Eric. Alan was in a wheelchair, hooked up to an oxygen tank. Eric had been overseeing the burning of the lab, but he'd brought his shotgun when he heard William might be infected. 

"What's going on?!"

Ronald looked helplessly over at them, breathing hard from his struggle to strap Sebastian down. "Sebastian's panicking," he uttered breathlessly, pulling on a surgery mask. "We had to restrain him, too. He'll have to be quarantined too because I don't know what kind of contact he's had with William since rescuing him."

Alan, small and frail and pale as ever, still tried to wheel himself over between the two beds and looking between the two men. "We'll need to take a blood sample from each of them," he murmured his voice tired and soft. "Blood and urine; run tests on both. That's the only way we'll know for certain."

"I've got-- I've got indicator, over here," Micah said in a rush, stumbling over to grab it. 

William had gone limp for the most part, but the sedative hadn't knocked him out completely. "You want samples from both of 'em?" Micah asked with a nervous glance at Sebastian. "And how...how are we gonna get Will to...yknow?"

"Ask 'im nicely?" Eric cut in irritably. "Get this done as fast as possible. I want my Al back in bed as soon as possible. Damn it, he shouldn't be up, brother! When it comes to Infected, we shoot firs', ask questions later!"

"William and Sebastian are our friends, Eric," Alan said softly but seriously. "If there's a chance that they're fine, we must do our best to help them as they have helped us. We'll do what we have to. Sedate Sebastian -- we'll need him compliant if we're going to get samples from him as well."

The surgeon had crept up on Sebastian from behind and given him what remained of the sedative. 

"Alright, firs' things firs'," said Micah, pressing a cup into Sebastian's hand. "Piss in this, will ya?" Then he approached William, who could barely keep his eyes open. "Will...we need to test if yer infected or not, so, could you--"

"She bit me!" William gasped weakly. "She bit my arm off! The reaper!"

"I'm not infected! William's not infected!" Sebastian roared, his struggling growing weaker and weaker. "Let me go! Let me go..."

Alan furrowed his brow and frowned down at William. "Your arm...bitten off? William, you have both of your arms..."

"I think he's hallucinating from shock and stress," Ronald whispered shakily. "There's not a damn scratch on him. I don't even know what Giltine did."

"I'm not," William choked out, his bare chest shaking with weak sobs. "Regenerates...my scars...gone...healed."

He pulled the cup from Micah's hands and pushed himself into a sitting position. "I'll prove it..." He thrust the hand holding the cup under his sheet, though it took a few minutes before he was able to relax enough for his bladder to release. 

It overflowed, making his exam bed a little wet, but he managed to shakily hand them a full cup of warm urine. "Test it," he gasped. "You'll see."

Alan recoiled very slightly in surprise, but quickly pulled on some rubber gloves, took the sample, and wheeled it over to a nearby table. He added a few drops of the indicator to the sample, and instantly the fluid turned bright red. 

A terrible silence fell over the room.

William let out a shaky laugh and dropped back against the bed, while Eric cocked his shotgun. 

"Sorry, Will," he muttered. 

"Wait!" Micah cried. "We're doing blood tests too, okay!? These aren't always accurate!" He turned to Sebastian. "Now piss in the fucking cup!"

Sebastian would have none of it. All he heard was the cock of the shotgun -- the threat to William's life -- and he began thrashing and protesting as much as he could through the small dose of sedative. "No! Don't you -- don't kill him, it's not true!" he gasped out between increasingly rapid breaths. He was white as a sheet, and tears were gathering in his eyes. "Don't touch him! Don't take him away -- "

"He's hyperventilating -- he's panicking," Ronald whispered urgently. "Damn it, we need more sedatives -- Eric, please, put the gun away; we need Sebastian to cooperate!"

"Damn it, if Will's infected there's a 90% chance the convict is, too!" Eric shot back, raising the gun. "They'll start turning any moment, and I won't risk Al!" 

William flopped sideways. "Oh, Sebastian, tell me I haven't infected you, too...? Please...do as Michael asks.."

"It's Micah," pouted the redhead, "but whatever. Please, just...just do it..!"

"God's sake, Eric, please put the gun down," Alan begged his beloved partner. "Sebastian won't cooperate. The virus is only spread through saliva, you know that. Ron, please do your best to calm him down so we can test him too."

Ronald swallowed the lump in his throat and he nodded, approaching Sebastian's bedside and beginning to whisper quietly and calmly to him of comforting, reassuring thoughts, most of them sweet nothings.

Eric growled. "And do you honestly believe they haven't snogged yet?!" he replied desperately. "This is bullshit. Ron, take Will and put him in total quarantine!"

"Eric, just shut up!" Micah cried. "If you can't help, git outta here!"

Sebastian's mind was a terrible, racing mess. All he could think of was that he so badly did not want William to die, but the possibility was so real that he had no idea what to do. He could feel his hands and feet growing numb from the lack of oxygen getting to them, and his limbs began to lock up out of panic-induced paralysis. The added noise coming from Ronald was just noise, and of no use to him. They were going to have to sedate him completely and take a sample from him by force.

Micah made a sound of frustration, cursing in Gaelic under his breath. 

"Ronald...sedate 'im, for gods sakes....get 'is sample," Micah instructed. He went and got a needle kit, opening one up to take William's blood. 

"Eric, brother, take Alan back to his room, yeah? I'll take the samples to the lab and Al can look when he's feeling better."

Eric just wanted Alan out of harms way, so he reluctantly nodded. "I'm trustin' you here, brother. Quarantine Will." He lowered his gun slowly.

Ronald quickly injected more sedatives into Sebastian's bloodstream, and the raven's protests ceased as he slipped into unconsciousness. He was wheeled out to a separate room and force-fed diuretics to encourage a urine sample without him voluntarily giving it. 

Alan sighed heavily, and then his throat caught and he went into a terrible coughing fit. He drew in raspy breaths when it was over, tears in his eyes from the lack of oxygen. "Ah, Eric," he whispered dryly, "I'm sorry you have to see this..."

Eric looked devastated as he handed Alan some water and checked his oxygen. "No, it's...okay. You're gonna be okay, love." He knelt down with him, blinking back tears of his own. "You're beautiful, y'know tha'?"

William had been watching with sad eyes, when his thoughts were interrupted by Micah sticking a needle in him and drawing out a vial of blood. "Ouch...arsehole...where..where's Sebastian?" William demanded druggily as Micah backed away from him. 

"Ron took him out to get a urine sample..."

William closed his eyes tight. "That's bullshit...why does Sebastian get privacy like that and I don't?!"

"Just calm down, Will, or I'll sedate you again."

"I just..." William went limp once more. "I want him back...."

Alan smiled softly through his oxygen mask and rested his soft hand on Eric's rough beard. "You tell me every day," he murmured. "How could I not know? I'll be all right as long as I have you by my side."

It was then that Agni staggered in, bleeding from the temple, his clothes ragged, looking exhausted and beaten. "W...Will -- William," he gasped out, looking wildly about for him and hurrying up to Eric with the deepest desperation, guilt, and shame in his expression. "Were you able to find him, Eric?"

Eric looked up in surprise. "Oh...Ghatak. That'd be William over there on the table. I wouldn't get too close if I were you, though, brother. 'E's infected."

"We ain't 100% sure," Micah added half heartedly. "But hey...keep an eye on 'im while I get blood samples from Seb 'n run 'em down to the lab?"

Eric kissed Alan's cheek. "We're going back, then."

Breathing hard, Agni swallowed and nodded, pulling up one of his ripped sleeves as he turned to face the room William was in. Much of the color drained from his face, and he pursed his lips so that they would not tremble. "...T-thank you," he whispered humbly, as steadily as he could. "I pray that I am not too late, and can fix this mess I have made." 

Exhaustedly, he trudged into the room to meet William again. Alan watched him briefly with a look that was a mixture of pity and confusion. He nodded in answer to Eric, and turned up to face him. "So much excitement for one day," he murmured as lightly as he could, resting his hand over Eric's.

"...Especially for you," Eric whispered, stroking Alan's thin, dark hair. "Let's go back to our room, love."

Micah left as well to tend to Sebastian, giving Agni and William some time together. 

William's eyes were closed, and he was deathly still, when suddenly he snapped into livelihood again. "G-G-Giltine..!" he cried hoarsely, writhing against his restraints. "No-- no more-- fi-fire-!"

Agni was very quick to respond, and he rested his hands over William's, giving them a gentle squeeze. "Giltine is gone," he whispered to him. "There is no fire. He cannot hurt you now, my dear friend; we have you now, and you are safe. I promise you are safe with me..."

William's eyes, once a frosty blue but now a lime green, were darting around fearfully before finally settling on Agni. Then they filled with tears. "A...Agni," he choked out, beginning to shake. "Agni..!! He burned me, all over!! Tore my n-nails, b-broke my fingers..!! He made me mess myself, time and ag-again, and the only f-food--!! It was human! And I didn't know before it was too late!" 

He began to sob bitterly, his composure completely crumbled. "Why did you do that t-to me?!"

Agni's composure dissolved to pieces as well, and he broke out into soft, whimpering sobs behind a hand. "I have betrayed you and wronged you so terribly," he whispered. "I did not want to; more than anything I did not want to. B-but he...he threatened the lives of the entire Hand of Kali. When...when I made that radio call...we were all under gunpoint...if I made one error, one hint of our situation...we would all die."

He clutched William's hand tightly, and something peculiar happened -- the tears he shed were no longer of water, but now of blood, and he let out a little despairing noise. "I had to sacrifice you, my precious friend, and I could not possibly regret it more. O-oh, William, p-please forgive me...!"

William did not grip his hand back. "A sacrifice," he whispered. "I hope it was w-worth it...I hope...it was...worth it!"

Then he was struggling against his restraints, shouting in between sobs and not coming off terribly coherent.

"He said it was my fault my father died, my friends died...! He said I deserved what I was getting! The broken bones, the acid, the knives, the sensory d-d-deprivation!"

The chains groaned under his struggling. "Was I worth it, friend?! Brother?! Lover?! Are you happy all those other people lived in return of the life of one fucking pathetic bloody scientist working for a cure?!" He was positively livid.

Agni hung his head and hid his face shame, trembling from head to foot. He felt utterly sick with guilt. "No," he whispered. "I made a mistake...a terrible, terrible mistake, one I wish more than anything I had not made. It was not worth...betraying you...th-the way that I did...th-this is all my fault."

"I'm dead!" William gasped out, yanking so hard against his manacles that they tore the skin of his wrists and he began to bleed quickly. The substance that healed his injuries also lessened the effect of drugs on his system, and he fought the sedatives with every ounce of his being. 

"I'm dead," he repeated, his voice breaking. "And yet...maybe it's better...like this. No, it...it is...."

Agni tried to wipe away his tears, but he only smeared blood across his cheek. "N-no...no, no...I cannot forgive myself for this," he blurted out. "I have committed a grave sin. I don't wish for you to die, but I'm the one who put you in such danger, so selfishly. P-please -- please, if there is anything I can do..."

William was silent for a long minute, his breathing slowing. Eventually he looked up. 

"Don't let them just shoot me like a dog," he whispered. "Do it quietly. Do it quick. I just...I don't want to turn. Anything but that."

He met Agni's bloody eyes. "You'll do this for me. You owe me that much."

Agni held their mutual gaze, lip trembling, and nodded through his scarlet tears. It was exactly as his beloved Prince Soma had asked of him when he had been infected. I don't want to become a monster, he'd said. I'd rather die seeing my faithful khansama and be at peace. Do it quickly, and quietly. Don't let me become one of those monsters, Agni...

Agni let out a bitter, anguished sob at the memory and having to go through it all over again. "Jo agyaa," he uttered at last. "As you wish..."

William was weeping too, and he took Agni's hands. "I'm sorry I shouted at you," he whispered. "I had to get that out." He reached up with bloody hands and stroked Agni's hair lightly. "You can do this, my friend. I just want you to know that I....forgive you."

Trembling, Agni reached out for William and rested one head on the top of the scientist's head, and the other at his chin; he was preparing to snap his neck as he had done to his prince. An instant death, quick and painless. "I...I deserve every terrible thing said to me," he whispered. "Even so, I...will never regret meeting you."

But before he could make his move, Ronald Knox broke through the doors, holding a urine sample in a plastic cup -- Sebastian's. It was not infected. "DON'T -- Don't do a thing!" he cried out desperately, staggering to a stop. "Sebastian is clean! No one's been infected!"

William's eyes widened. "Ronald Knox-- This is an important moment, please don't interrupt!" he said urgently, holding Agni closer. "I am infected! The test showed it!"

"But you would have turned by now!" Ronald cried back, trying to pull Agni back, who resisted him. "Don't do anything until we get the blood test results back! W-what'll Sebastian do if he wakes up and learns you're dead, anyway? At least let him say goodbye if you're really infected, you jerk!"

"Ginger was not a normal Reaper!" William shouted back, fighting back sobs. "And he would never let me say goodbye. It's easier this way, and you have no right to interfere. Get out!"

Ronald shook his head violently, still struggling against Agni, though he was no match at all for the well-exercised, strong Indian man. "No! You're the only person in this damned world he cares about! You're our only hope for the cure, Will, we can't just let you die!"

"Tell that to Eric!" William protested. "When I turn...someone will have to kill me. I am going to die," he whispered. "And I'd rather do it my way." He inched closer to Agni. "Leave me."

Ronald continued to yank determinedly back at Agni, bursting into tears of frustration. "Don't be an idiot!! We don't know yet for sure! Alan thinks that because you keep healing, maybe the virus just can't progress!! There's still hope and you can't let go as long as there's still even a single shred of it!"

Agni bit his lip and turned away from William to face Ronald, and the young psych flinched away in surprise at the blood running from Agni's eyes. "...????!"

"Please forgive me, Mr. Knox," the dark-skinned man whispered hoarsely. In a few swift moves, almost so fast that they could not be seen, he knocked Ronald out, and the blond crumpled to the floor, unconscious. "B-but I have made a promise. It is the only way I can restore William's honor to him."

William managed a tiny smile, gazing up at Agni and his hemolacria. "Thank you," he whispered. "I appreciate that. Let's just....just get this done, my dear friend. I know how difficult this is for you." He swayed a little where he sat, but met his eyes as well as he could.

Agni took William's head into his hands again, and met his gaze, firmly at first, but after a few moments, it wavered. "...I'm afraid," he whispered despairingly, his hands trembling.

"What are you afraid of?" William whispered, his eyes widening. "Life and death...as a Hindu, what scares you? You can do this...before Ronald wakes up! Just-- just-- quickly, please...!"

Agni flexed his fingers a little, and he swallowed worriedly. "Oh, my friend...I'm such a coward," he whispered. "I'm afraid...because I will miss you. I don't know if I can take another loss, William...you're too important to me." He shut his eyes and hunched his trembling shoulders as he wept. "I didn't want to come all this way just to kill you. I wanted to make certain that you lived, that you would be all right...n-not...this..."

"Yes, but it's too late, and I'm going to die. Agni..." William shook his head despairingly. "You don't think I'm a dog, do you? Are you going to let them put me down?" He was trembling more violently now.

Agni's hands slipped away from William's head, disheartened. "No," he whispered. "No...I will never let them put you down. B-but I can't...I cannot bear...to do this again." He drew away a little more, hugging himself tightly.

"Where are you going?" William asked, sitting up a bit. "Agni...don't...don't go. Please don't go! Don't do this...!" He tried to reach for him, but the chains restricted him. "You promised..! You promised!"

The Bengali man lost heart and shook his head again. "I'm sorry," he gasped. "I must break the promise. I cannot do it...I can't. I'm so sorry -- "

He turned and fled from the room, with every intention of turning himself in to Eric, to reveal everything he had done to put William in danger.

Eric was sitting outside Alan's room with a beer bottle in one hand. He'd been talking to a few men about fixing the place up and sending a squad down the tunnel that Giltine had escaped in, but now they had left, and he was alone to worry about his dying husband. He didn't react when Agni approached.

Agni had tried to wipe the blood from his face onto his sleeve, but there was still quite a mess smeared across his cheeks. "...Mr. Slingby," he said quietly.

"Ghatak," Eric grunted in response. "I think you should be on your way now, brother. You've caused us enough trouble....and all for meds that...weren't real."

Agni dropped clumsily down to his knees before Eric in a humble, submissive gesture. "I know...and I apologize. I must...tell you why I have acted as I have...and beg that you keep William alive. He asked me to kill him, but...I could not. I...I'm selfish; I don't want to."

"Please, I don't...I don't care." Eric reached for his gun. "If he's infected, he needs to die before 'e hurts someone." He cocked the weapon and got slowly to his feet, swaying slightly.   
Before Agni could protest any further, someone came running into the room, panting. 

"Wait!" Micah cried. "I looked at Will's blood under the scope, and his virus isn't replicating!"

Agni stared up at Micah, eyes widening, not quite daring to believe it against all the odds. "It isn't? But...he's infected, so what does that mean?"

Micah rubbed his forehead. "I need to see Alan, but I think it means it won't turn him! Like he's just a...just a carrier of the disease, y-y'know?"

Agni wiped his eyes onto the back of his hand again. "I don't understand. He's carrying it but it's not spreading or infecting anyone else?"

"Yes!" Micah exclaimed. "I don't know how, but basically...the Reaper virus cells have receptors, and there is a second substance attached to them receptors. I don't know what it is, but....I think it's preventing the virus from spreading."

Agni shakily got back up to his feet, staring Micah in the eyes. "...Could this...be the missing link to the cure?" he breathed.

"I don't know what Giltine did to 'im," Micah replied, looking between the two men. "But...maybe he was experimentin' with a cure before we stopped him? All I know for sure is that we can't kill Will until we know what's going on, right?!"

Agni nodded eagerly, able to latch onto the thinnest thread of hope for his friend's life. "Please," he begged Micah. "I am not a doctor, so I'm counting on everyone here to keep William alive. If he ended up dying because of my foolishness...I would never forgive myself."

"Yeah, go on. Get out, mate," Micah said dismissively. He approached Alan's room and let himself in, and Eric gave Agni a little touch on the shoulder before following Micah and closing the door behind him.

Alan had been put back in bed to recover from his coughing fit, and he was dozing with a book in his lap. He stirred when he heard Eric and Micah come in, adjusting his askew glasses. "How does the blood test look?" he asked drowsily.

Micah tried to explain it as calmly as he could, though he was breathless. "Basically, Al," he said when he'd finished, "Will's just a carrier. He's not dangerous, and he can't infect others. The virus is dormant in 'im." 

William was distraught when Agni left him. He was sobbing, and yanking against his chains in an attempt to get out. There were no words for how sick he was of chains, and even when he broke a wrist, it didn't free him. He just healed back over.

Alan cleared his throat loudly, for all the good it did him; his voice was still hoarse. "I want to run experiments right away," he responded excitedly, though he tried to mask it. "What happens when we introduce that blood to others? Will they become immune to the virus's effects, as well?"

Ronald started waking up around that time, though with a splitting headache. He curled up into a ball and clutched his head briefly, though when he realized he was hearing William's distraught voice, he bolted upright. Agni was nowhere to be seen, and William was clearly alive. "W...William -- what happened -- " he gasped as he staggered up to his feet, swaying from the pain behind his eyes.

"Ohh, I don't know if ..." Micah pressed his hand to his head. "I dunno, Al! I think that'd be really dangerous. You're th'one that knows stuff, after all." 

"He left," William gasped, his weak body shaking with anguished sobs. "He broke his promise. He won't...he won't....give me the fucking...dignity to end my life...the way I want to."

Alan sighed heavily through his oxygen mask as he thought, pushing his fringe from his eyes. "...If only we weren't burning all of the Reaper remains...we could see how it affects the active virus then. We'll have to collect a fresh corpse if we want any chance of experimentation, and -- "

He was forced to pause due to another coughing fit, and then took slow, deep breaths from the oxygen tank. "...oh, I hate it when it starts tasting metallic," he muttered, reaching for a medicinal inhaler. "Damned childhood asthma rearing back up again..." 

He cleared his throat, exhaled, and took a deep breath from the inhaler. His breathing sounding much better now, he continued. "The safest way to test William's blood on others is to use it on someone who is already infected or deceased. We'll see how it reacts from there."

 

Ronald held his head in his hand for a second, trying to clear the fog out. "...I don't...I don't blame him," he whispered. "...We're all selfish. None of us wants to see you die, William. We've...we've gotten so attached to you and you've given us all so much hope for the future. I c-can't...I can't even see you professionally anymore; you're my friend." His throat suddenly tightened up and he let out a little whimpering sob. "I don't wanna see you go. I'll miss you."

Eric rubbed Alan's shoulder some more. "Fine...fine, we'll have someone go out and get another Reaper...but until then, Will goes in total quarantine." 

"What about Seb?" Micah asked. 

"Well, if he's not infected...I guess we can let 'im go...." Eric replied reluctantly. 

William slumped. "I want to see Sebastian," he whispered. "Let me see him, R-R-Ronald. Please. If n-nothing else..."

Alan rested his hand over Eric's and gave it a squeeze. "It sounds like a solid plan," he murmured. "Let's get to work, then."

Ronald sniffled and nodded, rubbing his eyes before any tears could fall, though his eyes stayed misty. "Yeah. I'll wheel him in for ya, Will," he muttered weakly. "He's probably still knocked out, but I'll bring him to you." With that, he left William alone to limp to the next room and wheel Sebastian's hospital cot into William's room.

William looked up solemnly as Ronald returned. "Can you...p-please take these restraints off me? I promise I won't run away. I really have nowhere to go. Our lab is flooded...Agni is an oath-breaking t-traitor...Sebastian is th-the only one who'll have me." His voice broke again, and he rubbed his eyes. "Even if he likes that boy so much more, I...need him."

Sebastian lay still on his cot, face obscured by the oxygen mask they'd forced him into so that he could breathe. Ronald pushed the bed right up to William's, and rested his hands on the bedding for a moment before he slowly undid William's restraints.

"I'll have you," the blond whispered. "I really care about you both. I wish there's more I can do for you."

William shook his head. "Infected is Infected, and s-soon, Eric...Eric will shoot me, whether I've turned or not." He rolled his freed wrists, which had healed over quite quickly, and he shifted closer to Sebastian. He stroked the man's cheek. He wasn't sure why, but he sort of enjoyed affectionate gestures lately. 

"But do you think...I can still make him sick?"

Ronald flopped down into a nearby chair, exhausted and sore. "I don't know," he uttered helplessly. "It's not my field. All I know is that you're testing positive and he's not. Whether or not you can...depends on how the blood tests turn out." He sighed heavily, removed his glasses, and buried his face into his hands. "I'm not...a religious man, but...but I'm still gonna pray like hell that somehow things'll turn out okay."

William stared at Ronald, wondering how he could possibly look so worn out when he wasn't the one who had just been tortured for days on end. "Pray all you want," he whispered. "All I want to know is...if I can kiss him once..before I die." 

Tearing up again, he continued stroking Sebastian's cheek, silently begging him to wake up.

Sebastian stirred just the faintest bit, eyes still shut, but he faintly murmured William's name with a little sigh. Ronald took a couple of steps back to give them some privacy.

William's lip trembled uncharacteristically and he rested his head against Sebastian's chest. "Damn it," he whispered. "Come on. I know you're there. Wake up, please.."

The raven let out another little sigh and shifted again, his eyes drifting open. His vision was hazy and he felt like his head had been filled with water. "...William...?" he murmured to the blurry figure resting on his chest.

William took Sebastian's hands, blinking quickly. "I'm positive," he choked. "I am positive." He hovered over the man's lips, desperate to take them, but not knowing if he even could or not. "I'm so sorry."

Sebastian blinked slowly to try and clear his vision. "No..." he muttered. "Don't be...I should've...noticed something...was wrong." He was fighting hard to wake himself up but he was so terribly groggy from the drugs.

William met his eyes, tears dripping from his dark lashes and onto Sebastian's cheeks. "Goddamnit...Ronald's right...I shouldn't go without saying goodbye." He nuzzled his face lightly. "It means something to me...You've really become my closest f-friend, and..."   
His fingers curled in the man's hair, and his voice wavered and broke. He was only inches from Sebastian's lips, fighting the urge to kiss him with everything he had. "And more.."

Sebastian's deep brown eyes finally began to focus properly on William's face, and he reached up to hold the scientist close. "I don't want want you to die," he whispered back tremulously. "I used to think...I was better off alone...but I...I need you...Four-Eyes." He cracked a weak smile, but it didn't last long.

William smiled back bittersweetly. "I need you too, I just...I...feel..something for you...I feel something diff--" His voice cut off, and he fell limply against Sebastian's body. 

Micah stood over him with the sedative gun. "You can't bloody kiss 'im," he mumbled. "Will's gotta be quarantined, right now. Sorry, Seb."

Sebastian's eyes widened, and he held closer to William protectively. "No...no, I need to be with him," he muttered. "I won't let you kill him...d-damnit, I'll fight you."

The notion was ridiculous. Sebastian still had far too much sedatives in his system to even sit up, let alone put up a fight.

Micah wasn't listening, he just picked the malnourished man up and plopped him into a wheelchair to take him away. "Maybe you wanna talk to that Agni guy, Seb...see if you can't con some supplies outta him. I think 'e owes us that much, 'e does."

Sebastian reached for William anyway, shaking his head. "Don't take him...I need to stay with him. You can't let him die. I won't let him die," he muttered hoarsely. "Fuck Agni. I need to be with William."

"William is sleeping," Micah replied shortly, then sighed. "Look...We're not killing him. Not while he's like this. His virus isn't replicating, okay? I don't think he's gonna turn."

Sebastian tried to sit up, but still lacked the motor skills to accomplish such a feat, and quickly fell back down. Still, he tried again, and managed to roll onto his side to see Micah. "He's not -- he's not gonna turn?" he stammered uncertainly, staring suspiciously at the Irishman.

"He aint," Micah returned. "So you can move freely about the 'ospital. Will's gonna be in quarantine for a while until we can learn more about his condition, kay? Ron, get yer arse over 'ere...We need to set up a sterile room."

Ronald hurried over to Micah's side and nodded, taking William's wheelchair into his hands. "So Will's definitely gonna be okay?" he asked in deep relief, his shoulders relaxing. 

Sebastian still was not happy about William being removed from his presence at all. "I d-don't..." he hesitated, swallowing as he flopped back down. "I don't want him to leave. Why can't we be quarantined together?"

"Cause we don't know anything about this strain of virus, okay?" Micah replied. "It's just not safe to risk anyone until we 'ave more information. Y'know? We're gonna get a Reaper in for testing. Maybe you can help with that."

The convict clenched his fists. He knew it wouldn't be for Gabriel Giltine, but going through the motions of fetching a Reaper corpse would remind him too much of it. Giltine was someone he never wanted to think about again unless it was to kill him. "...I'll...see," he muttered.

"Sure. You think about that," Micah replied sarcastically. "Meanwhile, your boyfriend gets to sit in a white room. And based on some of the stuff he was sayin', I think 'e bloody needs it. Straitjacket too."

He wheeled William away, Ronald at his side, to set up a quarantined environment.

"Don't you fucking put him in a straitjacket," Sebastian snapped. "What he needs is someone who'll treat him as something other than a goddamn science experiment and give him their ears," he added, looking pointedly at Ronald, who averted his gaze.

"Will's my bloody friend too," Micah shot heatedly, the wheelchair sliding to a stop. William lurched forward, but the Irishman pushed him back into place. "I'll take care of 'im. We just gotta make sure he won't hurt no one, including 'imself, since he was fuckin' beggin' that Indian fella to snap 'is neck."

Ronald rested a hand on Micah's back and shook his head. "Don't encourage him," he whispered. "He has separation anxiety with William. Just...just wheel him out and let him deal with it. He can't go anywhere; he's too drugged up."

Sebastian couldn't hear him, and it frustrated him, leaving him angry at Micah and Ronald while afraid and upset for William. He didn't know what would happen. "Let me stay with him...I won't let him hurt anyone," he muttered defeatedly.

"Separation anxiety," Micah echoed with a scoff of derision, then took his leave with Ronald. "It's not like 'e wasn't spending 90% of the time Will was being tortured with Ciel. Don't talk t'me 'bout separation anxiety, Ron..please."

"No one in this goddamn place knew what was happening with William; don’t pretend you did," Ronald snapped. "He's spending time with Ciel as a coping method. With William gone, he latches onto Ciel, instead. I almost never saw him without one or the other. You didn't fucking see Sebastian for the first few days after we thought Will left. I've studied these things and you haven't. He was restless, jumpy, testy, wouldn't shut up about Will -- maybe he didn't consciously realize it, but subconsciously he was not taking William's absence well. Ciel is very much like William. It only makes sense that he'd spend all his time with the person most like him."

"Why're you getting angry at me?" Micah responded, his cheeks going bright red. He picked up his pace and pushed the doors open to the quarantine room. "...Why don'tcha go study 'im s'more, then? I've got stuff to do."

"I'm just -- " Ronald started hotly, but he exhaled sharply, shoulders sagging again. "I'm just so scared. Even if Will's virus isn't spreading...Eric's getting more and more mentally unstable every day. You've seen how much he drinks now that Alan keeps getting worse. I just...Sebastian's my friend and if William dies...whether from the virus or from an order Eric sends out...there's no telling what that will do to Sebastian's psyche. All the progress he's made could be lost, and he could go on a killing spree, placing the blame on everyone else. It would be easy."

Micah slammed his hands on the counter. "Whadda you want me t'do?!" he asked. "You want me to lock Seb up as well, brother?! Christ...I'm doin' the best I can, here. I'm way out of my league. And fuck, if I could help Eric at all...or Al...I would." 

With tears in his eyes he took William's cloth away and dressed him in a robe and scrubs.

Ronald flinched back, hurt, and averted his gaze. "I'm trying my best, too," he whispered. "G-god, I'm sorry...we're all so damn stressed here that we're going for each other's necks. I don't know what to do. This is something that professionals should handle, and I...I never even made it to my Master's degree. I'm a piss-poor nurse, so I'm just dead fucking weight around here. I'm sorry...I just want to help."

Micah stared at the bench for a few moments, then slowly approached his friend.   
"It's gonna be okay," he said quietly, and put his arms around him in a soft embrace. "Jus' 'ave a lil' faith...things might get worse before they get better, but...it'll be okay in the end."

Warmth rushed to Ronald's cheeks, and he held back for a moment before he hugged Micah tightly in return, shutting his eyes. "I hope you're right," he whispered. "I really, really do."

"Hey..." Micah thumbed his cheek lightly, and offered a little smile. "You realize that Will could be a walking cure?" he murmured. "Don't tell me that ain't somethin' t'hold onto."

"Oh, wouldn't that just be the miracle to end all miracles," Ronald sighed, meeting Micah's eyes again and giving him a small smile in return. "A walking cure. If it spread as fast as the original virus, we could finally beat this thing."

Micah nodded. "Would be," he agreed, glancing skyward. "Maybe He wants t'finally give us a break." His mint-green eyes glanced back and forth between Ronald's, and then down to his lips. "Maybe...it's the beginning of the end." He leaned in slowly, exhaling. His heart pounding, the Irishman leaned in a little closer.

"A happy ending, finally," Ronald agreed, his soft blue eyes gazing into Micah's, and he closed the distance between them, resting his hands at the Irishman's cheeks and pressing their lips together.

Micah drew breath sharply, then melted into the sensation of the soft lips. He didn't want it to end. It was also the start of something beautiful -- their first kiss. Micah had wondered for so long if...just maybe, Ronald had these feelings too?

But it didn't last long. As Micah's mind was racing as to whether or not he should deepen the kiss, a sharp cry shattered their moment. 

"Fire--! Fire! It's burning, it's burning!" The man on the floor shrieked, and Micah ran to stabilize him. "Get it off! My father-- my father--!"

Micah shot William up with more sedative, enough to put down a horse. "Can't believe how fuckin' fast his body is eating up this sedative...!"

Ronald started quite a bit when William suddenly woke up, and he dove down to assist him. "I don't understand," he muttered breathlessly, eyes darting back and forth in confusion. "Look at that, the needle puncture has already healed over. What's with this regeneration? S-should we induce an artificial coma...?!"

William wasn't put in a coma. Instead, he underwent an arduous sanitation process and was later released into his white room. 

When Micah was sure everything was sealed off and sterile, he sat back with the blond.   
"...he mentioned...that a reaper bit his arm off. I mean...we know there are Abnormals springin' up left ‘n right these days, but Giltine's experiments could have produced something that could regenerate, right?"

He watched William, resting peacefully on his bed now, with bound hands and feet for the time being. 

"Tests, tests...gotta test, gotta do more tests.."

Ronald bit his lip in contemplation, drumming his fingers along his knee. "I know it's for his safety, but I don't like binding him down like that. It seems to really trigger his panic attacks; he was probably held down like that while Giltine had him," he murmured, mostly to himself and only partially to Micah. "But how on Earth could you genetically engineer flesh and bone to regenerate to that extent? It just...it sounds like bad science fiction, Micah, and we still haven't found that maniac. If he can do this, what else can he do?"

Micah brushed his fingers. "It doesn't bear thinkin' 'bout, Ron. And I'm sorry for binding 'im...but he's a danger to himself right now. He needs to recover a little. Then I'll explain that he's not gonna turn...and he won't wanna die anymore, I hope."

Ronald nodded, slipping his hand over Micah's. "I don't think he will," he muttered. "I hope he doesn't. If he's definitely not a danger..." he exhaled slowly through his mouth. "...and potentially a cure...it could help turn everything around."

"There ya go," said Micah with a small smile. "Now lets get outta here." 

Neither of them had said a thing about the abrupt kiss, and Micah wasn't really sure what to say or do about it. To show his affections still stood, he let his hand brush fondly against Ronald's as they left the quarantine zone and returned to the infirmary.

Ronald gave Micah a bit of a shy smile once they'd left the quarantine zone and returned the gentle touch. "Now what do we do?" he asked. He didn't mean them personally, or for William -- he deliberately left it up in the air for Micah to decide which way to take their talk.

Micah rubbed his forehead lightly. "That's what everyone keeps askin' me...I really don't like bein' in charge," he said with a soft chuckle. "I prefer just being told what to do...M'not a leader. I'm too...dependent to be a leader, brother."

A nurse was now tending to Sebastian, so Micah left him be. 

People were running left and right, busy with planning and working to disinfect the morgue.   
Micah walked through the crowds, passing a languid Agni sitting alone, and making his way into the cafeteria.

Ronald walked beside him, trying not to make eye contact when they passed Agni, and the blond and the redhead sat down at a table in the cafeteria together. Ronald exhaled slowly through his nose, feeling pleasantly nervous being with Micah, especially after their unexpected kiss.

Micah got some snacks and soda and brought them over to Ronald. "Like, you'd be a good leader, I tell ya. You're good with people, smart, confident. You don't need anyone to baby you..." He rambled as he cracked open a soda.

Ronald's cheeks immediately grew hot, and his eyes widened. He blinked a few times, recovering, and then laughed nervously and shook his hand dismissively. "Aaaahhh, nooo, I'm still just a kid," he replied bashfully, opening a bag of crisps. "I don't think I've got the charisma Eric's got..."

"Y'do," Micah replied with a shy smile, his heart racing all over again. "Me...I can be charismatic, but...I got an awful temper, lord help me. Too rash. An' like I said, well...I'm too dependent. Can't make choices without having someone there t'say, yeah, Mike, that's cool. That's right."

Ronald hunched his shoulders and twiddled his thumbs in his lap, under the table. "Dependent personality," he murmured. "I could...uh...I could try and help you out with that, if you'd like," he offered. "If you'd like to be more independent and, and maybe practice cognitive therapy to help your temper."

Micah glanced up from beneath red lashes, rather surprised. "Oh...I don't think you could help much, no offense..." He hesitated before speaking, going rather red.   
"You sorta p-pinned it. Dependent personality disorder. It's cause I was so close to my twin brother. Um, but I keep it under control with antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds. It does well enough...."

He took a sip of his cola and gave a weak smile. "I wouldn't last a week outside the hospital, Ron. I'd go nuts."

Ronald dug his fingers around in the crisp bag a little, but didn't take anything. "Oh, that's -- none taken!" he assured Micah with another smile and a hand wave. "I just figured it couldn't hurt to ask. There was an awkward pause as he tried to figure out what to say. "Uhh -- er, I -- I'd...I wish I can meet your brother one day," he finally offered. "You...you talk about him so much, so you must really love him. I'd like to meet the person who made you so happy."

Micah flushed rather red. "Oh, I adore him...I miss Charis more than anything. But it's good for me to be away, don't ya think? I mean... when I first lost 'im...I was a total wreck. Charis is my target person. Maybe bit by bit, I'm starting to get used to it...y'know?" His heart lurched at the thought, and he teared up inadvertently.

Ronald held Micah a little tighter, feeling their hearts beat together. "I...uh...I know I can never replace Charis, but...I'd like to be there for you whenever you need someone, if you'd like that," he whispered softly.

Micah's eyes softened. "What are you suggesting?" He asked softly, scarcely daring to hope. Ronald was right; no one could replace Charis, but he'd liked Ronald for quite a while....

The young psych had never felt so damn nervous in his entire life, but he kept his chin up and gave Micah a friendly, hopeful smile. "Well, that's...if you want to, we could...start seeing each other, maybe?" he suggested with a nervous smile.

Micah perked up just a little, biting his lip shyly. "Wh...s-so, you really do f-feel like that, huh?" he mumbled. "That's really surprisin', I...I thought it was jus' in me 'ead..." He fiddled nervously with his rosary.

"Aw, hell," Ronald murmured with a grin, hunching his shoulders a little and rubbing the back of his head. "Surprising? I thought I was being really obvious, actually. I've thought you were awfully cute for a long time, now, actually..."

Micah leaned a little closer. "Yeah? Blimey...I thought you were straight, brother." 

He took his hand lightly and smiled. Something good had come of this.

Ronald grinned and gave Micah's hand a gentle squeeze. "Bi, actually," he replied. "Just weren't really sure how to flirt with you without making an arse of myself, you know? I didn't wanna embarrass you, either. But...I guess it's working out okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, I think so," Micah replied. "I-I'm really happy...!" He looked down at Ronald's hand. "Thanks for being here, Ron. Come on…we should probably get back to help the other guys out with the lab.”   
Ronald nodded in agreement, and they left, hand in hand.


	19. Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw: minor character death

The next day, William awoke in a bed in a clear walled room. A plastic cube, sealed away from the outside, quarantine him. His hands were bound to the bed. For ten minutes he was very dazed and confused, but eventually the events of yesterday caught up with him. 

Agni had betrayed him...twice. William had begged him to end his life. 

He'd run away instead. 

William had been bitten, and now he was all alone, confined. Ostracized. "...H-hello?!" He called hoarsely. "Sebastian..?!"

There was a nurse outside closely monitoring William's activity, looking for any sort of changes, but there had been none, save for his waking up. She got up from her seat and approached the clear wall slowly and as non-threateningly as she could so that she would not startle him. When she spoke, her voice could be clearly heard from inside the cube. "Please do not move about too quickly, Mr. Spears," she said softly, sympathetically. "Your system is recovering from the sedatives."

William stared up at her with wide, frightened eyes. "You-- are you one of Giltine's?!" he cried, sitting bolt upright. "Come to take me back?! You can't take me! You won't burn me...!" he cried. He'd broken out in tremors.

"Stay out! Help me! Let me go...!"

The nurse was visibly frightened, losing heart quickly. "N-no, not at all!" she replied fearfully, stepping back. "You're safe here -- G-Giltine is long gone. We're protecting you, we won't hurt you!"

William slid over the side of the bed, hiding himself from her. "Get away! You want to hurt me-- you'll get hurt--!" He had never felt such irrational fear. Even whispering his irrationality mantra didn't help him out any. He crouched, breathing shakily, warmth spreading through the lower section of his gown. "G-get away..."

She held her hands over her mouth with wide-eyed fear; she had been acquainted with William before the ordeal and it terrified her to see the usually calm scientist's demeanor so changed. She stepped back to her desk and silently pressed a discreet alarm button to alert Eric; she didn't know what to do. "I-I'm here to help you," she faltered, tearing up.

William simply couldn't decide if she was here to hurt or help him. He just shook his head, trembling where he was crouched. "Get away..." 

Eric came running when the panic button went off, but he groaned when he saw the sight of William. "...I'm not cleanin' that up," he snipped. But he knew they couldn't keep shooting William up with sedative every time he got upset. They'd run out of sedative.

"I'll c-clean it once he calms down -- if he calms down," the nurse muttered nervously. "I just don't know what to do. He's used our entire supply of sedatives for this month. M-mr. Slingby, what do I do?"

"Find that Hindu lad," Eric ordered her. "He's a peaceful guy. He can explain things to Will gently."

William was staring mournfully at Eric from where he was crouched, and let out a mournful moan.

The nurse nodded and hurried away quickly, in search of Agni. 

However, it took her a very long time; Agni had hidden himself well. And when she finally did find him, he refused to come. He was fasting and praying for forgiveness, and his hemolacria had been acting strongly. She balked, but when he tearfully requested that she find Sebastian instead, she obeyed him. Sebastian was being kept from everyone else, as well -- not under quarantine, but out of fear of him. Ciel had been well detained by his aunt, and Sebastian was becoming quite restless and antsy, unable to see either of them. But he jumped at the chance to help William, and followed her to the quarantine room.

Eric scowled when he saw Sebastian. "I wasn't aware the convict 'ere was a Hindu!" he said irritably. "I didn't ask for him. What, turban man refused to come?!"

William sank down lightly against the wall. Agni wouldn't come to see him? That was just insult to injury, like rubbing salt into the wound. He wondered what he'd done to make Agni hate him so.

Sebastian ignored their conversation and rested his hands on the plastic wall, gazing down at William and quietly murmuring his name to get his attention.

"M...Mr. Ghatak said he was repenting," the nurse faltered. "He said...he could not bring himself to face Mr. Spears yet, for all he has done. He said he's trying to forgive himself before he asks for William's forgiveness. I...I don't quite understand what he meant, but...he was crying terribly."

William scarcely noticed Sebastian. He'd spent the last few minutes planning just what he'd say to Agni, and now he'd gone and gotten himself even more upset. He punched the plastic wall in frustration, but all he succeeded in doing was injuring his hand. "Goddamnit..." he uttered helplessly, shrinking into himself.

The nurse quietly explained to Sebastian the exact details of William's condition for him to relay to the poor scientist. Sebastian listened, but made no indication that he'd heard her until she finished. There was a small sort of hall that he had to step into first, with the door shut behind him before he could take the next door into the cube. 

Sebastian took off his shoes and slowly approached William, kneeling down beside him. "...William..."

William flinched when Sebastian touched him, but once he noticed him, he pulled him in close in a desperate embrace. He needed something to cement him to reality, and Sebastian was a good start. William pressed his head into the man's shoulder, fighting back tears. "Wh...what's going on, Sebastian...?"

Sebastian held William as tightly as he could without crushing the man, hoping his touch was reassuring. "You're completely fine," he said softly. "They said...the virus won't advance. You're not going to turn."

"Comple...how can I be completely fine, i-if...?" asked the tortured male, every touch feeling like Giltine's spidery fingers were crawling over his body. "Why isn't it advancing...? How do they know I won't turn?!"

Sebastian squeezed William a little. "Alan said...he discovered that it's almost like...you've been cured. A carrier of the virus, but not afflicted by it. Your rapid regeneration might be what's holding it back, but it's like...well...Alan reckons you could be a walking cure."

"Oh, that's right!" William burst out. "The creator of the Reaper virus is just going to infect me with his disease and then give me the fucking cure! I've never heard a stupider idea!"

Eric folded his arms thoughtfully. William was right. That didn't make sense at all.

Sebastian shook his head. "Look, I know how stupid it sounds. But Alan thinks it's the only possible explanation. Maybe it was something unintentional, I don't know. But the fact is that right now, you've got all the benefits of being a Reaper and none of the downsides. I mean...they can't even keep you sedated because your body just works right through the medication. It's like you can't even get sick with stuff like colds or the flu or anything anymore so you wouldn't even need medicine."

"For now," said William, rubbing his face tiredly. "Something's going to happen. If you ask me...this is the first s-s-stage of becoming one of those. The Abnormal that could regenerate. He wants to breed more of them, and maybe this is how he does it! I'm a...I'm a danger to everybody." 

Eric left the room without another word.

"All I know is that the virus has completely stopped," Sebastian murmured, dropping his hands down to William's and giving them a squeeze. "We're pretty damn sure that you aren't going to become a Reaper. Not even that Abnormal."

William bit his lip. "It just doesn't make sense at all," he whispered. Suddenly becoming conscious of the state of his gown, he looked up at his companion. "It is..nice of you...to show such concern for me," he muttered, noticing the way Sebastian was holding his hands. "Could you do me a favor and undo these bindings so I can get some proper clothes on?"

Sebastian nodded and immediately undid William's bindings despite protests from the nurse outside. "That monster kept you bound, didn't he?" he whispered. "If I have anything to say about it, I won't let them keep pinning you down like this."

"I appreciate it," said William. He peeled his clothes off and began getting changed. "I don't know what...what the purpose of quarantining me is, if they don't know something they're not telling me," he pondered aloud as he pulled a pair of jeans on, a black long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of boots that weren't his own. 

It was then Pluto came bounding into the room, flapping his hands anxiously and making a scared, keening sound. "Nnhh! Nnnhh!!" 

"P...Pluto?"

Sebastian looked up at the autistic man, not knowing what it was that he needed. He blinked, glancing toward William. "He's been holed up in Ronald's office," he murmured. "What's he doing here...?"

Pluto formed a gun shape with his fingers. "Pah!" 

William's eyes widened. He didn't understand much about Pluto's non-verbal autism, which was vastly different from Asperger's Syndrome. But he was aware that while Pluto could not speak, he could still communicate in his own way.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes in puzzlement. "A gun...?" 

The shadow that suddenly loomed in the doorway spoke differently. Eric approached their cube with his trusty shotgun. "E-Eric!?" Judging by the look on his face, William knew exactly what Eric was planning on doing.

Sebastian immediately shielded William with his own body, arms spread wide. "Eric, what the hell are you thinking?" he demanded.

Eric raised his gun to the air holes in the cube, pointing the barrel right at them.   
"No hard feelings, right, Will?" he asked. "But at leas' I'm listenin' to ya." 

"Eric, wait!" 

The Scotsman fired his gun, and William shoved both himself and Sebastian behind the bed, scrabbling to get out of the way while the man reloaded. "Eric, stop!"

"Pull your head out your arse, Slingby!" Sebastian snapped, scrambling up to his feet. "William's not a threat! You don't know a damn thing about this! Why don't you pay attention to Alan for once and take his word for it?!" He glanced between William and the door, trying to figure out how to get William to safety.

And then it happened. The raid sirens started going off, and Eric hesitated. "Wh...." Then he grit his teeth. "You brought them on us, Spears!" he spat, reloading the gun. Just as he was about to fire on them once more, someone else came hurtling down the hall. "Eric!"   
Micah was staring at them in horror. "..What are you doing?! Eric, we've got incomin'!" he screeched. 

Eric glared at the encased men. "You've just bought yourself a reprieve, that's all!" he snapped, then ran off along with Micah.

Sebastian glared after Eric once the Scotsman left, and turned back to William. "He's lost it. I think we need to get out of here...let's wait until the raid is over and we can make our move."

William was wide-eyed, glancing around wildly. "No-- we need to go now!" he whispered. "We need to go through the tunnels and get away before he can come back and gun us down like dogs."

"Then let's go," Sebastian agreed. "We'll get our things and go." He took William's hands and gently tugged him along. "Come on."

So William got up and ran. To his surprise, Pluto ran right behind them. It looked like he was coming with them, whether they liked it or not. 

Eric wouldn't do anything before he'd gotten Alan to safety anyway. They had some time.

Sebastian jammed his feet back into his boots, and they ran for their shared room to pack as much as they could into individual backpacks. "I know where we can get temporary shelter from here," Sebastian told William, glancing over Pluto and making him put some clothes on. "We'll take our guns back, too. And I'll get my bike back up and running; we'll be out of here in no time."

William helped with dressing Pluto. Since Sebastian was dressed and packed fast, used to having to make quick escapes, William spoke up: "You go on ahead! We'll be right behind you!" 

The sound of gunfire had already started up. People were manning the wall already.

Sebastian nodded and hurried off to the weapons room to take back what was rightfully theirs. He took back their heavy weaponry and the keys to his motorcycle before starting to make his way down to the tunnels.

It was only as William and Pluto ran down to the tunnel that the flaw in their plan became apparent. 

"Oh, goddamnit...!" William exclaimed in frustration.   
"I forgot about Pluto-- he won't fit with us on the bike!"

Pluto let out a high whine, clinging to William's shirt. William had grown almost fond of him. And at that moment, he heard a sound he was also fond of-- the barking of Darwin, William's adopted stray.

Sebastian had gotten the bike ready, and he started at the realization. Shit -- they couldn't just leave Pluto behind. If they tried to leave Pluto behind, he didn't know what could happen, and he didn't want to be responsible for him dying or worse, especially not with his special gift.

William groaned in frustration. "God...Darwin, too....Ngh...maybe we have to take the portal...?" The open ended question was answered when Darwin came bounding into the tunnel, followed closely by a familiar Indian man. 

"Huh...?!"

Agni was flushed and out of breath when he arrived, his satchel over his shoulder. He made eye contact with William briefly before he swallowed and averted his gaze guiltily. "I...I saw you running. I did not wish for your dog to be left behind without you, a-and...I will gladly let you take the truck I took to get here, to escape. Mr. Hunter told me what Mr. Slingby attempted to do, and...I can't let that happen."

William glared at Agni for a long moment. "...I told you he'd try to put me down. If it wasn't for Sebastian, he would have succeeded. How does that make you feel?" Darwin bound into his arms, and William cuddled him close. He turned away from Agni and hissed a quiet, "Lead the way," under his breath. 

Pluto whined sadly.

Agni nodded and lead them to the truck, when Sebastian suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "Ciel," he whispered with dawning horror. "I have to make sure he's safe -- "

At that moment, there was a clamor of voices near the entrance to the tunnel. "They went down here! Quick!"  
William grabbed Sebastian's hand. "There's no time! He's probably in the safe room with Alan, anyway! Come on!"

Sebastian resisted for a moment, pulling from William, and looking between him and the doorway, longingly. "But I can't leave him," he muttered. "It wouldn't be fair if I saved you and not him."

"You'd be taking him from his aunt, Sebastian! Your little boyfriend doesn't need saving!" A shot flew overhead, and William ducked reflexively. "They're not taking me back. Come or stay, Sebastian...make your choice!" He turned and joined the others in hurrying towards the truck.

Sebastian was forced back into the truck with the others. His bike had been loaded on already, and the moment he climbed in, Agni hit the gas pedal to the floor. The tires screeched, and they were off, presumably to the Hand of Kali. 

Sebastian, however, did not stop looking back, worried for Ciel without being there to protect him, even if he had been teaching him self-defense.

They made it out of the tunnel, and daylight struck their eyes. The sound of gunfire grew louder once more. They saw the south wall as they exited, which required much less security, but there was still a few Reapers attacking this wall, too. 

"Look out for the ones on the road."

The raven was forced to pay attention, now, and he readied the rifle he was carrying. He took aim, leaning out of one of the windows, and shot Reaper after Reaper, downing them even at a distance from a moving car. The men on duty at the south wall were unaware that they were escaping, so no shots were fired from them. It was a complete stroke of luck.

Ciel stood atop the wall with his pistol, firing at the Reapers. He'd taken two down already, and had been looking forward to telling Sebastian. He'd stopped wearing his eyepatch, since Sebastian said he liked him better without it, and so when he heard the truck, he cast both eyes over towards it. 

He couldn't believe his eyes when he then saw Sebastian firing from the window, and recognized his sort-of boyfriend was leaving. "Hey--! Wait! Don't leave me behind!"

Actually seeing Ciel was the final push Sebastian needed to go back. He threw the van's sliding door open and jumped out despite their speed, and rolled when he hit the ground. He got right back up to his feet and bolted down to the wall, firing off at more reapers. "Ciel!! Don't lose focus!!" he bellowed in return.

"Sebastian!" William cried out after him. "What are you--?!"

Ciel ran along their wall as fast as his little legs could carry him. "Take me with you! Take me with you, Sebastian! Let me come!"

Sebastian was completely ready for Ciel to come with them. The Hand of Kali would be much safer for him, and he would no longer suffer the oppression of his overbearing aunt. "Watch your footing!" he cried to the young man. "Don't slip! I'll come get you!"

"Agni-- pull over!" William cried, shaking his strong shoulder. 

Ciel glanced behind him. He saw Ronald come out, obviously his aunt had sent him to find him. "I'm coming!" He swung down the supporting beams and wiggled through a hole to the other side of the gate.

"Ciel, no!" Ronald cried, breaking into a run, arms outstretched. 

A reaper came out of nowhere and lunged for Ciel, snapping and biting at him with a high-pitched snarl. Sebastian let out a shout of fury and immediately fired at the monster, heart pounding so ferociously that he thought it would leap out of his throat. "CIEL!"

Ciel shot the creature down himself, and turned back to Sebastian, grinning. He made it within several feet of his companion before he was struck heavily from behind by an object something had thrown. It had been an Abnormal, and its eyes were fixed on him.

Sebastian shot the Abnormal several times until he caught up with his fallen 'young master', as he'd begun to call him. "Ciel -- Ciel, you have to get up and run to the van. Go, I'll get this one -- " he panted, but Ciel didn't seem to be moving.

William's eyes widened in horror as they saw blood leaking out from beneath Ciel's head. 

There was a boom, followed by a sound of rushing air. William had fired a rocket launcher at the abnormal, and blew its head straight to pieces. 

"Ronald, take him inside!" William cried, as he jumped out of the car to drag Sebastian back. 

But inside he knew it was too late.

Sebastian pushed William back and bent over Ciel, frantically shaking his shoulders. "Ciel. No. No. Ciel, wake up. Come on, wake up," he begged him, breathing quickly. "Ciel!"  
William joined them quickly.   
Ciel was still alive, his eyes were open, but he was not responding to stimulus.

"Sebastian-- he's gone," William said tightly. "I'm sorry, but we have to go..!" He fired crookedly at the few remaining Reapers.

The raven shook his head violently and pushed William away again. "No. No, that's impossible. Ciel can't be gone. He's right here. I'm just going to take him somewhere safe," he whispered tightly, tremulously. Agni waited anxiously back in the van, firing off other Reapers, and Ronald hung nearby with absolute horror.

"Ronald, you fucking coward!" William shouted. "Get over here!" He checked the boy's pulse-- nothing-- and then looked at his arm, where there was a small bite. It wasn't deep, but it didn't need to be. 

William drew his pistol and pointed it at Ciel's head.

Sebastian pulled Ciel into his arms and held him tightly, squeezing his eyes shut and breathing rapidly. "N-no...no, Ciel, I'm definitely going to make sure you survive this. Then you can come with us. Just like we wanted, remember?" he whispered tremulously. Even as he spoke, the boy's body was changing into one of the monsters -- his body began twitching and a deep growl issued from his throat. Sebastian didn't appear to hear it, and stroked Ciel's hair with a shaking hand. "You'll be okay. You'll be fine, Ciel."

Ronald finally got a hold of himself after the shock of watching Ciel ‘die’, and he staggered down to his knees. "S...Sebastian, he can't..." he muttered, choking up. "He can't hear you." 

Sebastian shook his head again, and nearby there came shouts of other soldiers approaching the south wall to check on the situation there. There wasn't any time. Without looking, he grabbed Ronald by the collar and pulled him very close, whispering so only he could hear. 

"You have to keep him safe," he uttered bleakly. "Keep his brain intact. I-if there's hope for a cure..." he glanced very quickly at William. "...I want him back." And he told Ronald where their secret place was. "Take him there. Chain him up. Keep him fed, keep him secret. I'll come back to see him, mark my words. Secret. Secret. Don't tell even Madam Red. She'll make sure he dies, I know it. Same with Eric. Tell anyone and I will fucking kill you. Keep. Ciel. Safe. Do you understand?"

Ronald was white as a sheet now. He had no idea what was possessing him to do so, but he nodded, and whispered back simply, "...Yes."

William watched as Sebastian and Ronald exchanged words, and then the blond took Ciel into his arms. 

"Sebastian!" he called one last time, and then got into the front seat with Agni. Pluto was howling mournfully, tears in his eyes. He understood that Ciel was lost.

Finally, they were all in the truck again, and the engine was restarted. 

Agni gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and he was shaking badly. A child had been lost this time, and there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. He had not felt so powerless since the day he had lost Prince Soma. 

White-faced and trembling from shock, Sebastian climbed back into the van. His heart pounded painfully in his chest, and his brain still wasn't quite registering what had happened. Ciel would be fine, obviously. They'd just find a cure and then everything would be good as new. How hard would it be, right?

William didn't really know what to say to Sebastian as he helped pull him back into the van. If Sebastian hadn't jumped out of the van, Ciel Phantomhive would still be alive. But there was no way he could tell the ex-con that. 

Pluto drew against the corner of the vehicle, wailing, so William focused on calming him down instead.

Dimly, somewhere deep down, Sebastian knew that, too. He didn't know what Ciel was thinking, trying to hold down a wall with just a little pistol -- so desperate to prove himself, after being warned so many times. He had needed Ciel with him, and Ciel had called for him, and begged to not be left behind. Sebastian refused to let him stay dead for long. 

After that, they drove in silence. No one said a word, or looked at each other. The terrible weight of Ciel rested on all their shoulders.

Pluto generally wasn't one for physical contact, and neither was William. But it didn't take long before the savant was curled in William's lap, and William rather appreciated the comfort as he petted him. 

"Agni..." he said hoarsely after a while, "S-Sebastian and I...we won't be imposing long at all."

Agni stammered at first, but he found his voice after that. "N...no, please. Stay as long as you need to. I owe you quite a lot, so...we will accommodate you as long as you wish to stay," he replied quietly.

"I don't want to stay with you," William said curtly. "I'll be gone as soon as we're ..better prepared." Pluto let out a low whine. The scientist sat back and stared out the window. He was infected, and sooner or later that would come back to bite him. It was better to be away from civilization, in any case.

"...I see," Agni replied softly, quickly glancing away and swallowing back a lump in his throat. They pulled up into a dim tunnel, and he turned on the headlights, where they were greeted by a small group of people, mostly Indian like Agni. "Still...if you ever seek asylum...the doors of the Hand of Kali will always be open to you." He parked the van then, shutting off the engine.

"Look," said William, "I'm going to say it right now. I don’t trust you...I don’t want to be near you." He was trembling, he’d scarcely stopped trembling since he woke up, and he just wanted to lie in bed forever. 

He climbed out of the vehicle with Pluto, raising his gun. "We'll require a vehicle to travel in, with a full tank of gas, and food, too. Get these things for us, Agni."

Agni's heart was breaking again, but he did his best to not let it show. After all, he deserved this -- he had betrayed William three times in a very short span of time. It only made sense for William to lose his trust. He did not blame the scientist.

"I...I will," he murmured. "I understand." 

Sebastian climbed out of the van, ushering Darwin along silently. He glanced around at the greeting party, which included Meenah West, and he gave her a faint nod of acknowledgement.

William continued to hold his gun, even though the others were pointing guns right back at him. "Gh...g-go and get some food for Sebastian," he choked out.

Agni shut his door and gave the van keys to William. "What about for you?" he asked softly, as a few other people began to lead them inside.

William took the keys into one trembling hand. "I-I'm not hungry right now. It's Sebastian I'm worried about, so...h-hurry up, if it pleases you."  
He moved his bag into the front seat then approached Sebastian. "...How are you holding up?"

Agni gave William a brief bow and hurried off to get them some food. 

Sebastian glanced slowly over at William, and gave his head a little shake. "...I don't know," he whispered hoarsely. "It all happened so fast that I don't think I've had time for it t-to..." he exhaled shakily. "...sink in."

William took his hands. "I know you were very close to the boy," he muttered. "...Did you...did you love him?" He felt a little bad for asking, but the truth was...he wanted to know.

"I don't know," Sebastian whispered again. "I'm not sure if I really know what love feels like. But I'm...I was...very...fond of him," he said slowly. "And felt like I needed to protect him like I need to protect you. But I failed. A-all my experience, and for nothing. I c-couldn't...keep him alive when it really, really counted. This is all wrong; he's supposed to be here, with us."

William wasn't good at consolation, but he knew it was important to try. "It sounds like maybe you did love him," he said with a sigh, despite the bitter feeling he felt within himself. "But this world is no place for such a young boy. He was safer there...he should never have tried to run. It is a terrible shame."

"It's my fault," Sebastian muttered. "I shouldn't have encouraged him. I should have let Ronald get a hold of him, and come back for him later. Stupid, stupid me," he uttered bitterly, leaning against the van. "I had a rifle. I could have blown down the one that bit him in a second. But I hesitated, and now he's..." he trailed off, biting down on his lip. "Fuck."

William put his arms around the man, giving him a soft, comforting hug, albeit a little mechanical. 

"The past is the past. I know it hurts now, but...while I'm still alive, we can work towards something great. Have a bite to eat, then we'll go back to the lab and clear it out."

Sebastian reciprocated the gesture to express his appreciation, and he nodded. When he drew back, his eyes were misty, and he dabbed them onto his sleeve. "All right," he murmured. "Let's go, then..."

William shook his head. "We're not going in there. They will bring us the things we need, you can eat, then we'll be on our way." He ruffled Pluto's hair fondly, and Darwin sauntered closer in hopes for his own pets. He let out a bark, and Pluto copied it. 

Pluto seemed to be picking up dog-like traits as a result of hanging around Darwin. It was a little strange.

It was a few minutes after that that Agni returned, carrying a basket full of fresh, steaming hot curry buns, and Meenah beside him pulling a dollie behind her, which contained petrol, two propane tanks, and a couple of boxes of canned food.

Agni offered the basket to William, head bowed low in a submissive gesture. "I don't suppose I can convince you to stay the night and get some rest before you head out?" he asked softly. "Of course, it is your choice; it's merely that...I do really wish to make things up to you."

William looked at the food suspiciously, but before he could think twice, Pluto had grabbed one and begun wolfing it down. "Plu-- ...tch.." William sighed resignedly. It seemed the food wasn't poisoned or drugged, since Pluto seemed completely fine. "No, Agni. You cannot, and there is no worldly thing you can do to make this up to us."

He hesitantly took a curry bun and sat down to nibble it.

"Please, William, I'll do absolutely anything to return to your good graces," Agni begged him. "I have wronged you so terribly. If there is anything -- anything t-that you would need me for, I...I will do it for you. Even if it leads me to my death."

William stared hard at him, trembling faintly with anger. He remembered how desperate he'd been for Agni to do what needed to be done. How happy he'd been to have him by his side.   
And then the cruel, cruel sting of betrayal. 

It only fueled his anger now. 

"Answer me something. Do you...love me?"

Agni was taken aback by the suddenness of the question, but he swallowed and answered dutifully, keeping his head down low. "Yes," he whispered. "Very much. You have become a precious friend to me, and more, and I nearly lost you because I made the most foolish mistake of my life. I don't wish to make such a mistake ever again."

William blanched. He really hadn't expected this for an answer. He'd expected a 'no'. "You're lying to me," he choked out. "You couldn't do what you did to someone you love...!" He teared up unexpectedly, because it made what Agni did hurt all the more.

Sebastian quietly lay a hand on William's shoulder. "You say I love Ciel, but I still managed to let him die. The last thing I wanted was for him to even get a scratch on him," he said very quietly. "I'm sure it's probably the same for Agni, and he had a difficult decision to make. I'm not excusing him, but...I don't think he's lying, William. Look at him."

And it was true -- neither of them had ever seen Agni looking so sorry and submissive, like a kicked puppy. He was kneeling on the ground with his head bowed low as it could go, hands still raised, offering the basket of curry buns. Faint tremors went through his body, and drops of blood were hitting the ground -- he was crying, and his hemolacria was acting up again -- deep stress.

William felt his heart lurch. Seeing Agni like this really hit him hard. 

"Whether he's lying or not, it doesn't change anything," he said, taking the basket and putting it aside (much to the joy of Pluto and even Darwin) so he didn't have to see him like that anymore.

Agni simply rested his hands on the ground so that he could form an even more submissive bow. Sebastian didn't like seeing the normally proud, strong Agni like this, either, so he spoke again. "...Please, Will. For his sake, let's at least stay the night. If you're still suspicious, I'll stay right by your side all night and not let a single person touch you. All right?"

William scowled. "Is this what he calls love? Did he treat his prince this way?" He knew he was encroaching on dangerous territory, but his emotions were a total mess right now and he was so scared Giltine would catch him again.

Agni clenched his hands into tight, trembling fists, but said nothing. 

What did happen, however, was Meenah West darting out of nowhere to grab William by the collar, eyes narrowed. "I heard that," she said very quietly. "Take that back right now. Don't speak of Agni that way -- " 

"Let go of him, Meenah," Agni uttered quietly. "Don't give him more reason to distrust us."

She glanced at him in shock, then glared at William and immediately let him go, taking a few steps back.

William turned his gun on the woman. "Give me one reason," he whispered, staring at her with wide, broken eyes. "Just one."Darwin whined in protest, and Pluto followed suit.   
Finally, William glanced back at Agni. 

"I apologize for that. I will accept your hospitality for just one night."

Meenah raised her hands in alarm; she only had a knife at her waist, and it would do her no good to bring it to a gunfight. Still, she stepped before Agni to block him from William's range. 

"Agni has protected all of us for years," she said quietly. "I did not care for the Prince, having been his nursemaid as he grew up. He was a spoiled brat to the very end, but Agni loved him, and we respect Agni and won't tolerate any sort of abuse to him. He saved us from each of the Waves even in the wake of his own personal loss. He is an admirable man, and I understand you have undergone terrible ordeals too, but I will lay down my life for our leader as he has done for us!"

Agni gently raised a hand to quiet her, and she nodded and grew silent, letting him speak. 

He finally raised his head to meet William's gaze. "We will do everything in our power to keep you comfortable tonight," he said quietly. "I apologize for Meenah's outburst...though I do appreciate her intentions," he added, glancing up at her. She nodded and averted her gaze. Agni continued, "We have all undergone great hardships. But you so, especially, William. I...had no right to mislead you the way I did. I completely understand if you never trust or believe me again, but still...I feel compelled to let you know that my fondness and affection for you is real, as is the guilt for what I have done."

"I don't want to hear her speak," said William shortly. He turned back to Sebastian. "If you're sure about this, my friend...we shall stay, but we stick together. Please, Agni...get up."

William got his things out of the car, feeling a sense of dread wash over him as he entered their hideout. "Gh..!" It hit him hard, and he staggered. Fear grew within him, but he forced it down, knowing it was just his damaged mind trying to break him. He managed to soldier on.

Sebastian reached for William's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, but his expression was quite hollow. He wanted to bring comfort to William but he was still in such a state of shock he was just sort of going on autopilot for everything. 

Agni nodded and got up, solemnly leading the way.

William knew the attempt was empty, and it failed to calm him down. Agni hadn't acknowledged the apology he didn't even bloody deserve, and William felt on the brink of another breakdown. 

He'd never felt so alone when in so much company.

The Hand of Kali was a strange place. It was once a small underground shopping mall, but it had been refurbished for their own purposes, each old shop serving as bedrooms, infirmaries, food storage, weapons storage, a kitchen, and others. There were signs on each doorway indicating their purposes, written in English and many different Indian languages, not just Hindi. It was bustling with activity, particularly from one room filled with radios and computers -- people trying to contact the world outside the United Kingdom. 

Agni and Meenah lead the group to a rather generously-sized old shop converted into a bedroom. It was a little dusty, but everything was in good shape; the two double beds had clean sheets and warm comforters on them, the place was well lit, and there was even a private bathroom in the back, so they wouldn't have to go hunting around for one.

"I hope this will be comfortable enough for you," Agni said softly. "We save this room for our most important guests."

William entered the room and put his things down. "Pluto, you can have that bed, alright?" he suggested gently to the savant as he sat down on his own. Pluto took one look and flopped onto William's bed in defiance. 

"That will be all, Agni," said the brunet with a defeated sigh, then bent down to take his shoes off.

Sebastian gave Pluto a mildly irritated look; he'd intended to share a bed with William so they could give each other some sort of semblance of security. Three would be a crowd, so he stepped over to try and coax the man into the other bed. 

Agni nodded. "Thank you for giving me a chance, William," he said earnestly. "If you need anything...my quarters are just across the hall."

"I see." All the easier it would be for Agni to capture him while he slept. "I'll keep that in mind." William took his jacket off and lay down against the bed. He knew that maybe talking to Agni would be best...but he wasn't sure how to go about it, and he really felt the need to be alone for a little while.

"Come on, Pluto. William and I ought to share this bed together, don't you think?" Sebastian asked the snowy-haired man quietly. "You'd get a whole bed to yourself. Or you could share it with Darwin if you'd like." 

Agni gave William a deep bow, and with that, he and Meenah left.

Pluto stared up at Sebastian with eyes of an albinistic red. "William," he said throatily, but it was little more than mimicry. Then he did something very strange, something he'd also picked up from the dog. With one pale hand, he pulled down his pants and sighed, beginning to urinate onto the sheets. 

"Pluto, no!" William cried in exasperation, taking him by the shoulders and pushing him off to the bathroom. "Jesus christ." 

Pluto made a sound of upset as he was taken into the bathroom. William was tempted to make Pluto sleep on the soiled bed while they took the other one, but that was cruel and he knew it. Pluto didn't know what he was doing wrong. 

"Sebastian, strip the bed, will you? I'll...I'll go and ask Agni for spare sheets." 

That was killing two birds with one stone.

"Yeah, I can do that," Sebastian replied, though he wasn't looking forward to it. "Looks like we'll have to toilet train Pluto and make sure he doesn't keep copying Darwin's habits..." He leaned over the bed and began to strip the soiled sheets from it.

William crept out of the room. Down the hall, people turned to face him as they saw him exit. They were watching him, he knew it. Blushing a bit, he grasped the opposite door handle and knocked with the other hand. "...Agni..?"

Behind the door, Agni was changing into more comfortable clothes; a loose tunic and a churidar. He had just pulled the tunic on when he glanced at the door and deemed himself acceptable for company. "Come in," he replied.

William drew breath slowly, his eyes averted. "I didn't want to disturb you so soon, but...Pluto just made a bit of a mess on our sheets, and I was wondering if it was possible to get some clean ones. That's all."

"Oh...I see," Agni replied, his own gaze averted. "That's not a problem...I have some spare sheets in here. Let me get them for you."

William nodded his head, scuffing his foot lightly against the ground. Agni's room smelt lovely, full of the scents of the spices of India. For the first time, William felt like he was out of London, like he was in a warm, beautiful and safe place, like the world hadn't ended. Instinctively, he closed the door behind him, as if to not let this feeling escape into the dank cold of London.

Agni pulled open one of his cupboards and pulled a fresh set of sheets out. Instead of the laundry detergent smell that the other sheets had, these smelled of handmade soap -- he kept a few bars in the cupboard to keep things smelling fresh. They gave off a fragrant aroma of sandalwood, cedar wood, and myrrh, and Agni couldn't help but give it a faint whiff and enjoy its scent as he handed them to William. Their fingers brushed briefly together as the neat bundle was passed from one pair of hands to the next, and Agni dared to glimpse up at William's startlingly green eyes. "Is there anything else I can get you?" he asked softly.

William paused, and stared at him for a long, awkward moment. Then he pressed the bundle to his chest and turned away. "Nnh..." He hovered by the door, not wanting to open it, and his eyes prickled instinctively.

Agni hesitated just a little, then he swallowed nervously and set a hand on William's shoulder, giving him a faint squeeze. This gesture was filled with concern and love, exactly the opposite of Sebastian's mechanical one. "William..." he whispered softly.

William tensed up, but it only took a few moments before his shoulders relaxed. He sniffed suddenly, realizing that he was about to cry. He held the sheets tighter, and stared at the floor as a tear dripped down to darken it. A move was made to neither exit nor stay.

Agni slowly, gently pulled William into a soft embrace. "It's all right," he whispered. "If you need to get everything off your chest...I will listen without judgment."

William swallowed, shaking his head. The confliction he felt was just killing him, and his knees began to go weak. "I c..I can't.." he choked out. "You...." He turned to look at him, and gripped his arm as he began to sink downwards. "...!"

Agni sank down with him, tearing up again, himself. "I know," he uttered, holding William closer. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..."

The sheets fell aside as he dropped to the floor with his traitor. Some part of him knew that Agni was a scapegoat for the hatred and pain he felt towards the Undertaker. Another part knew that Agni's betrayal was all too real, and the reason he'd ended up there in the first place. 

But the fact was, he needed help.

"William, I really will do anything for you," Agni insisted, a clear droplet slipping down his cheek. He reached up and rested his hands on William's cheeks. "Whatever will ease your heart from the wrongs I have done you."

William rested his head against Agni's chest. "I-I'm scared as hell," he whispered after a long time. "I'm so scared. S-so scared." He met Agni's eyes, and he could see it true...this man was truly desperate for forgiveness.

"I know. And I know I'm to blame," Agni whispered back. "But I swear on the name of my Prince Soma Asman Kadar, that I will never do this to you again, and I will protect you with all my strength."

William tried to pull himself together. "Did you...mean what you said to me?" he asked in a weak voice, dropping his eyes again. "About...what I asked you?"

Agni shut his eyes and nodded, holding William closer. "Yes," he replied faintly. "I love you, William Spears. We have not known each other long, but...the feeling is genuine."

William began to tighten his embrace. "After what you did...you'll forgive me if I ask you to prove it?" he asked, finally managing to find his voice. Hearing Agni say that...finally brought him a little warmth inside.

"Yes," Agni promised at once. "Whatever you ask. I want to prove it to you, as well."

William looked down, playing lightly with Agni's tunic. "Take a bath with me...if you can spare the hot water, of course."

Agni was surprised by the request; he had not been expecting anything like that. "Certainly," he replied, feeling a little puzzled, but not wanting to question it. After all, it was what William wanted. "We have plenty to spare; certainly enough for you."

William was a little surprised at himself, too..but he'd been wanting a shower badly, and a shower would make them both a little more relaxed. "Fine..let's do it, then..." he said softly.

The Indian man nodded in agreement, and gently took the English man's hands and stood up together with him. They were on the same wavelength, for Agni replied, "The warm water should do us both some good, shouldn't it?" as he guided William to the bathroom.

William gave Agni a shy nod, and they shuffled off together to the private bathroom. Sebastian didn't need those sheets immediately, anyway.   
When they were alone in the bathroom, William hugged himself shyly. "..."

The bathroom was surprisingly nice for a former shop's loo. It had been refurbished just like the rest of the place with ornate tiles on the floor, and a complementing paint color on the walls. There was a curtain around the claw-foot bathtub, and Agni drew it back so that he could draw hot water for the tub. "M...my friends, they..." he murmured a little embarrassedly as the water gushed from the spout, "they insisted that I have nice quarters to myself. I insisted I would be fine sharing bunks with everyone else, but they did this much for me, so...I live in considerable luxury compared to the others." 

He turned to face William and caught his body language, and stood up straight. He blushed slightly, not quite sure what to say now. "Ah...is there...?" he started uncertainly, pausing uncomfortably while he tried to get words out. "...s...something the matter?"

William turned away a little. "I...haven't washed s-since I got out of that place...all he did was just s-spray me down with scalding water once every day or so. So..I definitely want to wash...but I'm also worried....how vulnerable I will be, if I undress...and if the..." He dropped his voice to a whisper, "if the water is too hot..."

Agni felt sick knowing that he'd subjected William to that. He nodded slowly. "I see," he said quietly. He stepped forward and gently pulled William back into a comforting embrace. "Don't worry...I will make sure the water doesn't become hot. Are you still fine with warm water, or would you prefer it cold?" he asked him.

"Warm will s-suffice," said William, instinctively nuzzling him. "Would you remove your garments first?" he asked, giving his hand a faint squeeze. He felt an unfamiliar flutter in his chest as it started to finally set in that Agni Ghatak loved him.

Agni nodded obediently, like a puppy eager to please his master again. He returned the gentle hand squeeze and gave him a brief bow. "Jo agyaa," he murmured softly, before he stepped back and began to remove his tunic. He took his time so as to not seem too eager, but not so slowly that he was a tease, and allowed William to watch if he wished to.

William bit his lip. Agni had said that same thing to him moments before his second betrayal. He watched from a sidelong view, seeing the beautiful golden body become exposed to him, with all its jewellery and piercings. 

He'd never seen a more perfect body in his life, to be honest. Slowly he felt confident enough to begin removing his own clothes.

Agni waited calmly and patiently, diligently testing the water to make sure it was not uncomfortably warm to the touch. He returned the subtler, sidelong glances to observe his friend (lover?) disrobing. He smiled softly from the edge of the bathtub and murmured, "You are beautiful, William."

William became naked. There was not a single scar on him. Ginger had healed him of those prior disfigurements. He sat down in the tub, and it was surprisingly pleasant. Agni had put something in the water that gave it a nice smell, too. "You are the first person to ever say that to me," he replied quietly, sinking into the warmth.

Agni slipped into the warm water after William and wrapped his arms around him gently. "Really?" he asked, surprised once more. "No one else has ever paid you such a compliment?"

William closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. "No. My body was scarred. And even now, how could you say such a thing, when I am so malnourished and...exhausted?" he asked quietly, looking down at himself with a sad expression.

Agni leaned back against the rim of the tub, gently bringing William with him. "You've persevered and endured," he murmured. "I find those qualities to be very beautiful. I still found you beautiful, before. Imperfections like those scars...I never thought of them as ugly. If it's part of you, how could it possibly be?"

William sunk against him. "If you say so, of course...your own white hair is a symbol of your own suffering, and yet it is stunningly beautiful. I'd much rather have something like that."   
He rested his head against Agni's bronzed, toned chest. "I really would, but I suppose it doesn't matter now..."

Agni was silent for a few minutes as he thought, trailing his fingers through William's hair. After a while, he leaned down and turned his head to softly kiss William on the cheek. "You matter," he said softly.

William almost, almost smiled. "You and I," he whispered after a long time, "...Do you think there is any hope for us, together...?" Nobody had ever told him they loved him like that before. And Sebastian...he loved Ciel...even if he was dead. Well, they say dead, because being a Reaper was about the same thing, even if their heart beat still.

"I think there is hope," Agni murmured back, resting his lips at William's shoulder. "This calamity can't last forever. And I heard what they said at the hospital. That you could be a walking cure. If that's true...maybe it's already the beginning of the end, and we can start to rebuild. In that case...I would say the chances of us truly being together are very high."

William sat back against the rim of the tub. He was blushing a little, partially due to the heat, and partially due to their intimate situation, and he slyly reached out to stroke Agni's considerable endowment. "You and I...together, like.. a couple...truly?"

Agni felt his whole body heat up from the intimate touch, and he nodded, smiling softly. "Yes," he replied, pulling William close again and kissing his cheek once more. He trailed his lips to meet William's, affectionate and warm.

William nodded. "Despite everything....I'd...I'd like that," he whispered, and moved in closer to him. By some miracle, a few minutes had passed since the time they'd finished pleasuring each other when Pluto burst into their room, naked and bright red. He seemed very bothered about something, judging by the sounds he was making, and he jumped into their tub with a splash.

Agni was quite startled and immediately held William protectively, but he relaxed when he saw it was only Pluto. Still, he was perplexed by the albinistic man's sudden appearance -- he knew he had come with William and Sebastian, but he didn't know who he was. "What in Shiva's name -- ?!"

"It's okay-- it's alright. It's just Pluto," William said with a sigh as the man wrapped his arms around him and whined like a kicked puppy. "Oh, don't tell me you're jealous, my albino friend?" He lifted Pluto out of the bath and wrapped him in a towel, before taking one for himself. 

"He's severely autistic, but we have reason to believe he is a highly gifted savant."

Agni blinked as he climbed out of the tub, wrapping himself in a towel, as well. "Oh, I see," he murmured in surprise, looking him up and down. "Where did he come from?"

"Claude was toting him around, getting him to hack security systems and whatnot. I think I can safely say he used Pluto to pull down my laboratory's security, too. We sort of inadvertently rescued him, and...he's grown quite attached to me. And my dog."

Once the towel was securely wrapped around his waist, Agni knelt down to Pluto's level in order to properly meet him. "I guess that will explain the canine behavior he's exhibited," he said curiously. "He's in much better hands with you than with that fiend..." He considered him for a moment, stroking the strange man's hair, since he seemed to enjoy that. "I wonder...if he truly is a savant, used for hacking...I wonder if he could help us with a problem we've been having in our computer room."

William joined Agni in petting Pluto. It felt strange to encourage his dog behaviour, but it made Pluto happy. "I would like to get an idea for myself as to the extent of his abilities. What sort of problem are you having?" William asked, securing his towel properly.

"Meenah's been trying her best, but we can't get the Internet back up, even just a small part of it. We have everything we need, thanks to the server you traded to us, but she's kept saying...she'd need a genius to do it."

William shuddered. "I don't know if I feel comfortable with Pluto interacting with her," he said quietly. "You know I don't trust her." 

Pluto licked Agni's cheek fondly.

"Down, boy!" Agni exclaimed with a chuckle, gently coaxing Pluto down. "Would you perhaps be keener on the idea if you or Sebastian supervised, then?" he suggested.

"I...suppose," said William. "I'm still reluctant about staying here, I will confess it. But I think Sebastian needs people to support him right now...it's better for him here."

Agni nodded in agreement, helping Pluto dry himself off. "I know. The hardest thing in this world to do is grieve alone. He'll need you more than ever, now..."

"Do you think what they had was wrong, Agni? That boy was so young...and I'm afraid that Sebastian might have been manipulating him." William felt a pang of guilt at voicing his fears.

"I don't know," Agni admitted, eyes downcast. "I didn't know Ciel very well, but the few times I met him, I got the impression of an old man inside a young boy's body. He was sophisticated and wise for his age, so I do not think he could have been manipulated very easily. And Sebastian...I don't know. That's something only he would know."

William pondered this. "He was a smart boy, yes...Even so, an adult and a young boy...?" He sighed a little. "I bet they breed girls with grown men as soon as they have their first period, over in the breeding camps...it is rather awful to think about."

Agni nodded again. "I've heard rumors of such things," he murmured. "The breeding camps are deplorable. We actively work here to protect people from their scouts, looking for healthy 'specimens'. However...Sebastian isn't from the breeding camps, and he's been changing. I think he would be conscious of his situation."

"Yes, he was, actually," William replied. "He's spent time in the camps, I believe. Convict or no, he was still a virile young male. But you're right about one thing...he's gone through a bit of a change."

He lightly ran his fingers through Agni's hair. It was the same white as Pluto's. He loved it.

"I can hardly believe how different he was at a glance between the first and most recent times I saw him," Agni started, and then stopped as something sank in, and looked at William in utter shock. "Sebastian escaped the breeding camps?" he gasped. "That's supposed to be impossible!"

William shrugged a little. "I think he did. But I didn't want to hear stories about all the women he fucked, so I didn't inquire much about the camps." He stood up and took Pluto gently by the wrist as he picked up his blankets.

Agni dressed himself once he was dry. "I don't really want to hear the stories, either, but...if he's escaped, we can possibly help others escape, as well," he muttered urgently.

"Depends how he escaped. I'm sure it involved blackmail, extortion and bribery. Or just murder," William said with another shrug. "Thank you for letting me in. Tomorrow we will see what to do with Pluto."

Agni nodded and kissed William in return, deciding it best to drop that subject for now. "You're welcome. We'll see what he's capable of," he replied. "And even if it's nothing, we'll make sure he's well taken care of."

William glanced back at him. Take Pluto away...? For some reason...the thought made him uncomfortable. He'd grown fond of the albino, who was surprisingly affectionate for an autistic. 

He returned to Sebastian's room with the sheets. Darwin gave a happy bark at the sight of him.

Sebastian was in the bathroom, sitting on the tile floor, soaking wet and surrounded by Pluto's discarded clothing. Pluto had gone ahead and wet his trousers, instead, so Sebastian had attempted to get him into the shower to clean him up a bit, but it proved about as effective as bathing a cat. Water had gone everywhere, Sebastian slipped and caught the full spray of water from the showerhead, and Pluto had bounded off in the nude. Sebastian just slipped dejectedly down the wall and accepted his fate.

Suddenly, it seemed like too much effort, something too trivial to even deal with in the wake of more important things.


	20. Desperation

_tw: drug use_

Now that Ciel was gone, Sebastian felt the strangest loneliness he'd ever felt in his life.

William poked his head in the bathroom door when he saw it was open, and his heart lurched when he saw Sebastian sitting limply on the floor. 

"Hey..!" William hurried in and turned the water off. "Sebastian...are you alright?" he asked as he knelt down beside him.

"I hate dogs," Sebastian announced in a mumble, but it lacked the usual venom the statement held from him. He covered his eyes with one hand. "It's just really stupid. He was stupid. He didn't have a chance with just a little pistol. I told him a thousand times, but he..." he trailed off and bit his lip, trying his damndest not to whimper.

"I know," William replied, his heart now feeling pangs of sadness as opposed to fear. "I know. It's tragic, but...this is no world for young boys. At least he didn't suffer." William took it upon himself to help Sebastian back up, and over to the bed.

Sebastian still didn't know for sure if Ronald would do as he was told and keep Ciel technically alive. Not knowing frightened Sebastian, and he did not like being frightened. He sat listlessly down at the edge of the bed, head down. "You know it's my fault," he said quietly. "I encouraged him to come down. He'd still be alive if it weren't for me."

"What's the point in telling yourself that?" asked William. "It won't change anything...as harsh as that is to say, you understand what it's like." William put an arm around him and gave him a light squeeze. 

"Why don't you lie down...? The rest will do you good. I'll clean up in the bathroom."

Sebastian shook his head slowly, resting his hand on William's arm. "No...I'll clean it up," he sighed. "You're the one who needs some proper rest more than any of us, William. Besides...I can do just as much moping either way, right?" He attempted a smile, but it didn't look much like one and it didn't last for more than half a second.

"If I have it in me to make love to a man, I can handle cleaning up a bathroom. Please rest, Sebastian." William touched his head gently. "Sleep can work wonders on heartache."

Now it made sense why it had taken so long just to get some spare sheets from Agni. Somehow, hearing this just made everything worse, and Sebastian felt jealousy stab his heart. He managed to stay his tongue and not say anything nasty about it, and just nod again, if it would make William happy. "...All right," he murmured defeatedly.

William watched him for a few moments, wondering if that really was jealousy coming from Sebastian. William did not consider himself a good judge of atmosphere or character, so he made no solid guess. Why would it be, anyway?

Instead, he got dressed and got to the arduous task of cleaning the bathroom, then he dressed Pluto and left with him and Darwin to see if anyone knew how to communicate with autistics.

Sebastian stripped out of his wet clothes, hung them up, and climbed under the blankets on the remaining clean bed, in the nude. He hated that his throat felt so tight from -- he didn't know what. He was goddamn jealous, at least. Resentful towards Agni, even though he had no logical reason to be. Just because William had slept with him? Who gave a fuck who William slept with? William could sleep with whoever he wanted.

"..." Sebastian pulled a blanket over his head and sulked.

 

William spent the next day letting the one scientist the Hand of Kali had run a lot of tests on him and his new virus.   
It wasn't just blood, the tests were also physical and mental. He was even injected with various substances to see how they reacted with his virus. 

But when the doctor began mentioning what it would be like to see these fascinating regenerative abilities, William triggered so badly that the resulting exhaustion left him bedridden for a whole extra day.

Sebastian had tried to ask around to see if there were jobs for him to do, but everyone he came across just told him to rest; he guessed it was Agni's doing. He didn't want to rest, though -- he still longed to be industrious, to do something other than mourn and feel sorry for himself. He wasn't sure where William had gone; the scientist wasn't in their room for the nearly two days they'd been there at the Hand of Kali. Pluto wasn't around much, either; the computer team was doing their best to stimulate him and figure out if he truly was a savant or not.

William felt weak when he finally woke up. His torture had finally caught up with him, and he didn't even want to get out of bed. He wouldn't have bothered if not to use the toilet, because otherwise he would have soiled himself, and even that reminded him of the horrors he'd endured with Giltine. 

Eating was difficult. Everything he sank his teeth into immediately turned to Reaper meat in his hands, and sooner or later he'd vomit. 

More than anything, William just wanted to sleep. 

Pluto responded excellently to tests once they finally figured out how to communicate with him. Programming language was like the home tongue he'd never learned, and he cracked codes in mere seconds.

Of course, they worked at Pluto's schedule, and when he'd had enough, no one could make him come back. He'd become accustomed to running all the way to William's room and curling up on the end of his bed, often next to Darwin.

Sebastian was awake when William returned to their room, and he did his best to comfort him despite his own hurting; honestly, it was trivial compared to what William had undergone. With Pluto and Darwin at the end of the bed, Sebastian wondered if they resembled a family this way. If they did, he mused, they were the strangest, most fucked-up family he'd ever seen.

Still, with the days crawling by and William showing no signs of improvement, Sebastian was practically jumping out of his skin to do something, even if it was cleaning toilets.

But no...he knew there were better things to be done. He often caught himself looking out the door and thinking of Ciel, and needing to go see him.

It didn't take long for him to make the decision. Once they'd been at the Hand of Kali for a week, Sebastian got up very early one morning, dressed and packed silently, and left a note by William that read simply, "Gone out to clear my head. Have the bike. Promise I'll be back soon. Hang in there. -- S."

He paused in the doorway for a moment to watch the still-sleeping 'family', and then left like a shadow, wheeling the motorcycle out of the tunnel manually so as to not wake anyone. There were guards stationed at the end of the tunnel, and they held him up a little, but they let him pass when he'd convinced them he was going out searching for supplies. He supposed he could do that on his way back, to seem honest. 

Sebastian cast a brief glance over his shoulder as he fired up the engine of his motorcycle and began riding to the Royal London.

 

The hospital was a very grim place, two days after Ciel Phantomhive's 'death'. Not only was everyone in mourning, angry and upset for the loss of Ciel, Alan had taken an awful turn for the worst not long after. 

Micah knew a man on his death bed when he saw one, and all he could do was make the poor man comfortable. He just didn't know how to tell Eric, who was half-mad with stress and grief. 

Poor Ciel's body had been devoured by the Reapers; not a scrap remained. At least, that was the story Ronald had told everyone.

Sebastian parked and hid his motorcycle about half a mile from the hospital; he knew its engine could be loud, and he wanted to break in with utmost discretion. He walked the rest of the way, sticking to the shadows of decrepit buildings. 

It was surprisingly easy to distract the guards in front of the tunnel they'd escape from. He was prepared to knock them out, if necessary, but they came running when Sebastian imitated the throaty, guttural moan that was the Reapers' trademark. Even with them out of the way for only a few seconds, he skirted right around them and began moving his way through the hospital. He didn't bother dropping by Ronald -- he would simply go to his and Ciel's secret place, and then he would know if his order had been obeyed.

Poor Ciel had been bound inside inside the fourth floor library, a collar around his neck chaining him to a metal beam jutting out of the floor near what used to be his little sanctuary. 

Ciel had made the transformation to Reaper as quickly as anyone, and Ronald had had to put him in a body bag to be able to get him inside the library without getting bitten. 

Blood stained his clothes and hair, his mismatched eyes were dull, and he was starving. Ronald hadn't come by with food or water. 

Moaning miserably, he thrashed against his chains, desperate to be set free.

Sebastian stood still for a moment once he'd entered the abandoned library, eyes fixed on Ciel. Even as a Reaper, Ciel looked malnourished. Outrageous as this was, Sebastian was just relieved that Ciel was still 'alive', in some sense. 

"Oh, young master," he murmured bittersweetly, slowly approaching him. "Look at you. You're filthy." 

He knelt down before him, just far enough that the little Reaper couldn't reach him. "I imagine you're quite hungry, as well. I will take care of that as soon as I can, don't you worry," he said softly. "But you're dangerous right now, and in order to protect you, I must protect myself. I'm sure you understand."

Ciel responded by letting out a frenzied growl and throwing himself forwards. He only succeeded in snapping something in his neck. 

His flesh had already gone a mottled grey, his lips were blue. Decomposition had begun.   
"Yaaggghh!" the boy Reaper growled, though there was a desperate note of starvation to his voice.

Sebastian exhaled slowly, telling himself that the cure would fix everything. Ciel would be good as new. 

"Don't move about too quickly," Sebastian told him, though of course he knew it was pointless. "You'll keep breaking things. Yourself, namely." He looked into Ciel's empty eyes, feeling an awful pang of sadness in his heart. There was no recognition there; just disease and instinct. "...It'll be all right; you'll see," he promised him, though his voice wavered. He stood up. "I'll be right back. I'll get you something to eat."

With that, Sebastian disappeared off to the secret passageway through the walls. It was very simple a matter to disguise himself and keep low on everyone's radars. He left his jacket inside the passage, left in just a black t-shirt, cargo pants, and boots -- most men wore such an ensemble, these days -- and grabbed a discarded baseball cap he'd found lying around, tucking his fringe up into it to draw less attention to himself. He could have been any other man there, keeping the brim low over his eyes so no one could get too close a look at him.

He noted very carefully the somber, uncertain atmosphere following Ciel's death and Eric's increasingly unstable mind, and it was very easy for him to adopt the same postures and body language that the others did. He blended right in and no one really looked at him twice.

It was scarcely a half hour later before Sebastian managed to return to the library with a freshly-killed Reaper in a body bag. He stripped the monster of its tattered clothing, and presented it to Ciel. 

"Forgive my lateness. I hope it will satisfy you..."

Ciel greedily lunged for the gift, dragging it close and beginning to tear off chunks of rotten flesh with his teeth. 

It was a gory sight, and a lengthy process. Even for a starving boy, Ciel couldn't eat the whole thing. He sat back with a  very full belly and moaned.

Sebastian watched without so much as a flinch -- gore by itself was something he was used to. It was fascinating, even, to watch the once prim and proper aristocrat tear into the rotting flesh with just his teeth.

When the boy was satisfied, Sebastian made a very risky move to begin cleaning the blood from Ciel's face, using one of the shreds of clothing previously worn by Ciel's victim. "Honestly...you used to show decorum..."

Ciel was not dead. Reapers were not zombies. They were nothing more than severely sick people, whose flesh suffered necrosis and became terribly disfigured, and their minds became mad and carnal. Hungry. 

"De...co," the boy growled, so full from his meal that he simply rested a hand against his bloated tummy and only offered a half-hearted swat at Sebastian while he cleaned his face.

Sebastian blinked at the half-formed word, but dismissed it as parrotting. He wiped the blood from Ciel's mouth, and straightened out his clothes. "You must have been terribly lonely up here by yourself," he murmured, producing a cheap plastic comb from his back pocket and beginning to comb Ciel's hair out. 

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here...I'm sorry we tried to leave without you. ...If I'd just gotten you...you wouldn't be in this terrible mess. However...it's just a setback. A cure will be found, and then you'll be good as new again." He sighed and smiled bittersweetly. "I'll owe you everything after this. I suppose I'll be indebted to you for the rest of my life. I wouldn't mind that...being your butler, for real. Like that one time we talked about, Young Master. I'm sure you remember."

Ciel seemed to finally become calm when the comb began to pass through his tangled, matted hair. His growls faded to quiet mumbles, and he gently rocked back and forth where he sat. 

He made no sign that he understood Sebastian's words, though the real Ciel would have happily taken on a butler...even if 'Young Master' was only borne from a little sexual role play.

There was no sign of the previous boy there, except that Ciel had sensitive hair, and he'd always liked Sebastian running his fingers through it.

The motion was soothing for both of them. For Sebastian, it restored a little bit of normality. He was extremely gentle and careful, not wanting to make Ciel's hair fall out, so he handled him like he was made of glass. "Ahh...you remember this, don't you?" he murmured with a soft smile. "This much, at least...you did like being groomed. Next time I come I'll give you a bath. You really are filthy now, you know."

Ciel growled, narrowing his eyes at Sebastian and baring bloody teeth. He was just too lethargic after his meal to really bother. 

The moment lasted until the brush caught in a knot in Ciel's hair, and a chunk of scalp was ripped out right along with it. 

Ciel howled, heaving himself forward to try and take Sebastian's throat out. "Ahggh!! Ohhrrr!!" he screeched hoarsely.

"Shit!" Sebastian jerked back just in time, scrambling away from him. Ciel or not, this was still a Reaper in front of him, and he knew full well that they would kill regardless of if they were hungry or not. He slowly raised a hand to his throat, feeling his pulse frantically pumping through his jugular. Briefly, he wondered if it was really a good idea to be doing this -- keeping the monster holed up in here, alone. He glanced over Ciel's eyes, one once a beautiful, oceanic blue, now a citrus green with a yellowish center -- and he swallowed nervously. It was just a risk he would have to take to keep Ciel alive, wasn't it? He owed Ciel that chance to live.

"Oh, Ciel, I'm sorry," he whispered to the snarling boy. "I didn't mean to do this to you. I'll fix it. I promise. Things will just be a little different, all right...?"

"Hagh..." Ciel flopped down when Sebastian moved out of reach, but he still made some attempt to try and eat him for a few moments. Then he curled up on the floor, watching Sebastian with almost sad eyes...if a Reaper could look that way. 

But with the way the Reapers were divergently evolving, who was to say they could not?

Sebastian met Ciel's eyes, feeling that almost-sadness, and felt his heart sink again. "I miss you terribly," he whispered. "You have no idea. The real you...the lively one with plenty to say and with so much potential for the future. I took that away from you but I'll give it back, one way or another." Shakily, he got up to his feet. This was proving to be too much; he didn't like seeing Ciel like this. "...I'll come back soon."

Ciel immediately made a sound of protest. Like he understood, and like he was afraid to be left alone. 

He voiced this in the form of angry snarling and snapping, but it turned to whimpers reminiscent of Pluto soon enough. "Saa..!"

Sebastian recognized it, and his eyes immediately stung with tears. He quickly blinked them back. "I'm sorry," he muttered, turning away. "I have to go. You've still got that whole rest of a meal to eat, so don't eat it all at once in case I can't come back right away. But I do...I promise that I will come back. You're not alone, Ciel. You still have me."

"Saaa...agh.." Ciel turned his eyes on the open window, before letting out the loud, anguished wail of a trapped animal.

It was loud enough so that even Micah heard it from down in Alan's care room. "Huh...?"

Sebastian slipped away before Ciel could make him feel any worse. He left through the gaping hole in the wall, making his way through the rubble to the floors below.

Alan faintly turned his head in the direction the sound had come from, furrowing his brow just a little; he'd heard it too. "What's...?" he muttered, voice reduced to the faintest whisper.

"Prolly...Reapers outside," Micah mumbled, pressing a damp cloth to Alan's forehead. 

In truth, though, Ronald had been acting very strange about something the last few days. Micah had chalked it down to grief, after all, Ron was the one who had found him...but there was something else, too...especially in the way he was sneaking off for half an hour at a time.

Ronald, for his part, was not the best actor, and not exactly brilliant at keeping secrets, but was doing his best to behave normally. He disappeared at least once a day to check on Ciel, and make sure the chains were still tight, but hadn't realized he was meant to keep Ciel fed.

This was corrected when Sebastian broke into Ronald's office through the window. The raven pinned the young psych to the wall, and the frightened boy let out a squeal, which was quickly silenced by Sebastian's hand.

"Feed him," he hissed. "Make sure he has food and water. I'll destroy you if he dies."

Frightened out of his wits, Ronald nodded frantically.

Sebastian took his hand away from Ronald's mouth, and then he was gone, already back on his way to his motorcycle, and then back to the Hand of Kali.

Micah tried to find out what had made Ronald look like he'd seen a ghost, but Ronald refused to tell him what had happened, or anything about Ciel. As far as Micah knew, the child was dead, and he felt just as guilty as everybody else. 

With a sigh, he took a plate of food off to Madam Red, in hopes of getting her to eat and maybe even come out of her room.

 

Sebastian was about halfway back when he remembered that he ought to bring back supplies so that the Hand of Kali guards wouldn't be suspicious when he returned. He sighed and redirected his route for one of his usual trading posts, which he felt like he hadn't visited in ages.

While Sebastian was trading, he caught somebody's eye. A girl strolled over to him and gave him a light shove. 

"Well, well," said Willow, an amused smirk crossing her face. "Look who it is! Old Sebastian. Long time no see."

It hadn't been long, but Willow somehow looked older than she had the last time he'd seen her. She was still petite, but Sebastian knew she could knock a grown man (like himself) flat onto his arse. Luckily, his rage over the group had subsided and been forgotten amonst the other happenings, and he offered her the faintest, halfhearted sneer as a greeting. "Well, fancy that," he replied. "Have you given up mugging innocent passers-by, then?"

Willow winked, rolling one muscular arm. "Oh, well, not s'much...I've been working in part with the traders, so it's okay!" 

Someone came stumbling over to her, clutching a pile of boxes. "Is this okay, Willow?"   
From behind the pile, a familiar freckly redhead poked his head out.

Sebastian blinked when his attention was turned to the redhead. "Micah? What are you doing here?" he asked blankly. "Shouldn't you be at the hospital?" There was no one else he could be.

The redhead blinked at him, then his pupils dilated considerably. "Wha--?!" In his surprise, he accidentally dropped his boxes. Becoming very flustered, he knelt to gather them up. "Did you say Micah?" he squeaked, as Willow watched on curiously.

A blond boy just a little taller than Willow arrived to help the redhead pick the boxes back up, doing so with considerable ease. Sebastian recognized him as one of the children who had helped mug him the last time he'd met Willow -- Finley, or something -- but paid him no mind. Apparently, this was not Micah, but damned if it wasn't his clone or his -- "...Don't tell me he's got a twin?" he responded, rather taken aback. He’d long forgotten the brief mention Micah had made. "Oi...One's annoying enough..."

The insult went right over the male's red head. "He does! Yes, he does! Micah is my brother! My name is Charis! Oh, have you seen him, sir? Have you seen my brother?!" He jumped up to grab Sebastian's arms, eyes alight with excitement. Charis had an Irish accent, but it was a touch more formal than Micah's, and a little less pronounced. 

"Oh, wow," exclaimed Willow with a bit of a grin. "He never shuts up about Micah, his precious 'lil twin'." 

"My lil' twin, yes, that's him!"

Sebastian instinctively brushed the redhead's hands off of him. "I had no idea," he answered, straightening his clothing out. He was a little caught off guard by the eager, affectionate gesture. "He's a nurse at the Royal London Hospital and taking care of survivors there. It's really kind of heavily guarded, though, so you might not get in very easily..."

"Oh, does he?!" Charis gasped, grinning again. He took a fond hold of his own rosary and beamed sunnily at Sebastian. "That is so like my brother to help others! Tell me more! Does he still keep the faith? Is he-- is he doing okay, without me?"

Sebastian gave him a vague, non committal shrug. "I...actually don't know," he replied. "I didn't really know him personally. But he's there, and he was alive and well last time I checked. Which was...a few days ago."

Willow rested a hand on her hip. "Can you help us gain access to the hospital, Seb? I have a couple of kids who could use some medicine. And then Charis could see his brother. We'd definitely pay, so it should be okay, right?"

Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest. "See...that's the problem...I kind of got kicked out a few days ago, and that's why I'm not there. The bloke in charge, Eric Slingby...he's a real tightass, you know what I mean? It's a long story, but...we kind of had to make a mad escape with a couple of friends and we're camping out someplace else." 

He drummed his fingers along his arms, in thought. "...You know, considering what you did to me back then, I shouldn't even tell you this much. But...whatever, I'm feeling generous today. The place we're at now is called the Hand of Kali. It's a militant group -- well, they say it is, but I think they're mostly concerned with networking people and pooling resources. Anyway, they're on good terms with the hospital and trade there regularly. Agni Ghatak can probably get you in."

"Alright! Can you give us directions to their camp?" Willow asked. "And provide word that they're coming?" 

Charis was hopping from foot to foot, overwhelmed with excitement and relief that his brother was okay. "Please, Mr. Sebastian?"

"I'm going back there right now, once I've finished getting some supplies," Sebastian told them. "But if I show you where they are, you've got to swear something to me. Quit mugging people. It pisses me off."

"En't you a murd'rer, though?" Finnian asked, his tone a mix of honest curiosity with the faintest hint of incredulousness. "Who're you to say? We're just getting by, en't we?" 

Sebastian gave him a Look. "That's behind me. We're not talking about that."

"Then there's nothing needs to be said," Willow cut in with a definitive tone. "Just make sure you do it, okay?" She gave him a suggestive smile. "I could make it worth your while."

Sebastian glanced over her disinterestedly. "No, thanks. I'm not...I'm not looking for that right now," he muttered. "...Besides, your mosquito-bite tits are a turn-off, anyway. I'd feel like a pedophile."

Unfazed, she countered, "I wouldn't touch you with a foot long pole, short stuff. But I know a guy who could hook you up with some drugs. You're into that sort of thing, aren't you?"   
Charis went white, and opened his mouth like he was about to say something. He clearly thought better of it and scampered away with his boxes.

Finnian was quick to join him, giving Sebastian a suspicious look over his shoulder as he went; he didn't trust him.

This caught Sebastian's attention. He considered Willow more seriously, now, and gave her his full attention. "What kind of drugs?" he asked her calmly. It had definitely been an age and a half since he'd last gotten high. Probably before William had come into his life, he reckoned.

"All kinds of drugs. Meth, heroin, cocaine, pot, ecstasy...name your poison," she said with a shrug, pressing her largish hands into her pockets. "He owes me a favor, so I could get you a bit for free."

"That's all hard to come by, these days," Sebastian mused. "My old place flooded and my stashes were destroyed. I think I'll take advantage of your offer. What's your guy's name?"

"S'James," she replied. "James Evans." With Sebastian acquiescing to her offer, she pulled out a card, followed by a pen, and scribbled an address on it. "Just tell him I sent you, and it should be fine. Just don't get into a fight."

Sebastian took the card, and borrowed a scrap of paper from her to draw out a map from the trading post to the Hand of Kali. "Can't make a guarantee, there, but I'll do my best. I punched out my last dealer because he was trying to rip me off." He handed her the paper in return. "Ask for Agni Ghatak. Tell the guards you know Sebastian and William. You're kids, so they probably won't be very suspicious."

Willow smiled a bit. "Yeah...they usually aren't." She turned her back on him, glancing over her shoulder. "Later!" The people she had with her gathered their things and hurried off with her.

Sebastian watched them go, and carefully pocketed the address in his inner jacket pocket. He finished trading, getting some bottled water and canned food, and strapped them down in the side trunks on his motorcycle. He was going to get some drugs today, because by god alcohol would not be enough to drown his sorrows. He wanted to get high as a kite.

 

James Evans was sitting at a table when Sebastian arrived at his home. He was hunched over something, with a screwdriver in one hand. He was working by lamplight, and it lit up handsome chocolate skin as a beautiful bronze.   
He was shirtless, revealing a scarred and muscular torso with dark nipples, while a belt held baggy cargo pants in place and his feet were clad in military boots. A jacket hung discarded over the back of the chair. 

The bell jingled as Sebastian came in, and James lazily reached for a gun. He propped it up on the table and took circular glasses off. 

"What is it, huh?"

"Willow sent me," Sebastian said plainly, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it. "She told me you owe her a favor and you could get me some free drugs."

"Whaaat?" James didn't take his hand off the gun. "You interrupted me to scam free drugs? That's a dick move." Golden eyes surveyed him, and his face was crisscrossed with blade scars. In addition, the areas around his eyes were red. 

He looked down at what he was working on-- it seemed to be a dog, at first glance, but a panel on its back was opened up, revealing complex circuitry. James touched a switch, and the dog twitched its ears, giving a little 'arf'. 

"Thank you, Master," it then said.

"Yes, well, so I've been told," Sebastian replied. "I'm desperate." He glanced down at the artificial dog with disinterest, at first, but then reconsidered it, pointed to it, and asked lightly, "Can you make a cat one of those?"

James scowled, finally lowering the gun. What was the point, when lasers were already lighting up red dots on Sebastian's gun? 

"Of course I could. For a price. You couldn't afford it, if you can't even afford drugs." He stood up. "It's troublesome. Giving away my stash wasn't included in whatever favor Willow thinks I owe 'er. Whadda you lookin' for?"

"A damn good high," Sebastian responded. "It's not so much I can't afford drugs, but more like I won't turn down a freebie when the opportunity arises." He stepped in to get a better look at James Evans -- a handsome youth, who looked rugged and exotic with his bronze skin and scars. He was probably only a few years older than Ciel.

Ciel...

Sebastian sighed. "Weed. Meth. Acid. Hell, I'll even take cigarettes if you've got them. My place flooded and everything not sealed up got destroyed, so I'll take just about anything you'll offer."

"I'm not offering," James replied bitterly. "I'm being robbed, aye? Come on, take your pick. I haven't got all day. I mean, if all you want is cigarettes, bitch, just take 'em." He tossed a crumpled pack onto the table.

"Mm...no, I really need something to get me even better than wasted. Something to forget," he replied, gently pushing the crumpled cigarettes back towards James. "If you need payment that badly, I'm not a crook. Maybe a reduced price for now, and I can pay you the rest another time? And if you don't believe me, Willow's got the address of the place I'm staying at, so you can just waltz right over and pop a cap in my skull if I don't pay you on time; I really don't care right now."

James groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Tempting as that is...a favor's a fucking favor.  "How about heroin, then?" he suggested. "I mean, y'look like shit. Heroin might do ya good."

Sebastian considered for a moment, and then nodded. "Why not," he figured with a shrug. "It's been a while. Especially since the strongest I could get lately was just weed. Barely does a thing anymore. How much have you got?"

"A lot," James replied. "I'll give you....6." He then whistled craning his head to the left. "Hey, Em, you there?" 

There was a rustling, and then someone appeared in the doorway, clad in nothing but a frilly pink apron. "Yep~!" 

Standing in the doorway was a boy about the age James was, maybe a little younger, fair of skin and dark of hair. Unruly chocolate curls went down to his shoulders, and he was honestly the single cutest -- not most attractive, but cutest boy Sebastian had ever seen. The raven actually blushed the faintest bit, eyes widening a little, but otherwise showed no reaction.

"Did you need something, James?" the boy chirped to James.

"Grab him 6 of the china white," James called with a little smile. As Emlyn turned his back, James' eyes fell on his taut backside, bare beneath the apron. "It's the blue safe. Yeah, you'll 'ave to bend all the way down to get that one. Er, slowly~"

As innocently as anything, Emlyn bent down to open up a drawer in the chest behind them, swaying his backside slowly. "Hmmm...oh, this one?" he asked, turning his head and looking over his shoulder, holding up a very small packet with white powder inside it.

Sebastian was very interested. "What kind of an arrangement is this, then?" he inquired. "He your love slave, or...?"

"Love slave?" Emlyn asked with a little laugh. "Don't be silly. I'm an AI! James built me, of course!"

Sebastian did a double-take and raised his eyebrows. "...Come again?"

James chuckled a little. "6 o'those, love." He turned back to Sebastian with a cocky grin. "He's a very good lover, and sometimes he is my slave~" He winked a little, "But...I build robots, you know, as a side hobby from being a dealer. Emlyn is my most perfect creation~"   
The dog on his desk gave a little whine.

"Jesus," Sebastian muttered under his breath. "You could have fooled me. You did fool me, actually. I thought he was real. I guess you're a real prodigy."

Emlyn beamed sunnily at the thought that he could fool someone into thinking he was real, and counted out six bags of the heroin before presenting them to Sebastian. "Here you are, Mr.....?"

"Sebastian," the raven replied. "Sebastian Michaelis."

There was a very loud thump somewhere in the back of the shop, followed by a shrill "Oh, my GOD!"

There was more rapid thumping now; someone was dashing down hallway somewhere, and then someone else appeared in the doorway in a blur of red. "SEBBYYYYY~!" 

Sebastian had about a split second to recognize an old prison mate of his before he was tackled into the ground and nearly smothered with a crushing hug. "Oooooh, Sebastian, you naughty boy!! Running off like that without even saying goodbye to me!" Grell Sutcliff exclaimed, nuzzling his face against the dazed raven's chest. "I was so upset that I slit the throat of Tiny Tim, remember him? Oh, rest him. His blood didn't even distract me for that long, Sebastian, how selfish of you!"

All in about five seconds Sebastian had been tackled, smothered, and then reprimanded by a crazed, murderous drag queen. It took him a few seconds to clear his head and push Grell off with a bit of a displeased look. "...Hello, Grell," he muttered unenthusiastically.

James' look of disgust and annoyance was evident. He pulled Emlyn into his lap, running his hands over the boy's smooth, milky thighs. "I thought I asked you to stay in the back of the shop, Sutcliff. I thought I asked you to stop harassing customers. I thought I-- god, you just don't listen, do you?" 

He glanced up at Sebastian from behind his boy toy. "...You're friends with him? Feel sorry for you."

"'Friends' is too nice of a word," Sebastian muttered, prying Grell off of himself. "I feel sorry for myself, too."

Grell hunched his shoulders and sneered, revealing extremely sharp teeth. Sebastian knew that Grell had filed them down that way himself, though he didn't know what for. "Oh, you're cruel!" the redhead pouted, folding his arms tightly. "It's been two years and I haven't heard a word from you or about you. Hmph, I was beginning to think the coppers had finally got you off to the breeding camps, since I’d seen neither hide nor hair of you in so long."

Sebastian stood back up and dusted himself off in annoyance. "Never. They're too stupid and disorganized to catch me, and they have bigger things to worry about. Surprised they haven't gotten you, though."

Grell stuck his tongue out to express his disgust at the idea. In the process, his tongue was cut, and he audibly swallowed the resulting blood. "As if they would," he muttered. "I'd never let them. They'd force me to bed a woman, God forbid. Even if they did catch me, I doubt they'd hold me for long~ you'd be surprised what I can use to kill a man~"

"I really wouldn't." This was true; he'd once witnessed Grell kill a man by impaling his brain through the nose -- with a chopstick. An item as innocuous as that was really nothing to Grell Sutcliff.

"James is rather brutal, too," Grell murmured a little huskily, glancing over his shoulder and giving James a saucy wink. "I like his style quite a lot."

James rested both hands on Emlyn's waist and grimaced. "Don't give me that look. I've seen your skinny horse cock and I want none'a it." He rubbed Emlyn's lower stomach playfully; he liked it when he could make his boy squirm. 

"Go on, mate. Take your drugs and amscray. Come back if you've got money. I will build you something if you pay me enough~"

Emlyn did squirm and giggle, pressing back against James delightedly. Grell just tossed his hair indignantly, nose held high. "I'll have you know I'm a fantastic sub, actually," he snipped. "Don't knock it 'till you try it."

Sebastian sighed, already exhausted from Grell's mere presence. "Thank you, James. If this is any good, I'll come back, provided he's not around," he replied, jabbing a thumb in Grell's direction.

Grell glowered at him, lips curled back in another sneer. "Oh? And what happened to us being prison friends?"

Sebastian smiled very faintly. "I believe the term I used was, "You keep your hands off my cock, and I promise to tolerate you, and not to strangle you to death." Something along those lines."

"You're a cock," Grell snipped back, draping his long fiery hair over his shoulder and combing his fingers through it. "We were mates, you and me. You know you needed another psychopath in there to get you by."

Sebastian rested his hand on the doorknob and didn't look at him. "Those days are over. You really make me ill...you always have."

Grell sat down in an old, ripped up armchair, crossing one leg over the other. "Don't tell me you've gone soft, Sebby," he murmured. "How boring. You've become normal."

James buried his head in Emlyn's back.  "Get out, both of you. I don't care where. I'm trying to work." Although he hadn't fucked Emlyn today, and that was an acceptable distraction. 

"Master," the dog perked up in its unnaturally deep voice, "I'm reading elevated stress patterns in your voi--" 

"No shit," James replied, flicking the switch on the dog and turning it off. "One last thought. I'm considering....making prototypes that mimic real humans...." He met Sebastian's eyes. He knew a grieving man when he saw one. 

"...For example, if there was someone, say, passed on...that you wanted to commemorate.." he shrugged lightly.

"..." Sebastian paused and slowly turned to face James. His expression was blank, but his heart was racing. "You could technically...bring them back?" he asked quietly.

James fought back the urge to smirk. "Well....mmmore or less. My designs are...very realistic. I can make their faces exact almost to the last detail. No memories, and the voice may be different..." He lifted up Emlyn's apron, revealing his semi-hardness. "But indistinguishable from a real person." He kissed Emlyn's neck affectionately.

Sebastian turned all the way to face James now, gripping the doorknob tightly. The chance to have a physical version of Ciel back..."What about...what about the personality, can you make it exactly like the real thing? Or could you program certain 'memories' that would affect their behavior? Things like that?"

Grell sat back and listened to Sebastian very interestedly, particularly in the way Sebastian's vocabulary changed. Stiffer, more formal. Oh, how juicy. Something had happened.

"Tch...well, I suppose if I'm gonna expand into that sort of market, people would want 'false' memories similar to the ones their person remembered....I could give it a go," said James. "You'd have to make a list. Maybe 5 important memories, maximum." He gave him a pitiful look. "It's expensive though...."

"I'll pay any price," Sebastian said immediately, looking James in the eyes. "Any at all. I need this, in case...in case something goes wrong." He decided to confide to James the main detail of his secret. "He's infected, he's a Reaper now. But I've made a friend...he's a scientist, a chemist, who's working on the cure. If anything happens..." he trailed off, really not wanting to think about it.

"Working on a cure?" James scoffed. "Just cause you've got a buddy that calls himself a scientist....doesn't mean he can find a cure. I hope you aren't paying him."

He picked up the dog robot and tossed it at Sebastian. 

"Here....take this. Test him out. See if you're impressed with his AI before you spend all that money on another. I don't like it when guys aren't impressed with what I make. And if you weren't impressed, I'd have to kill you. So....take him."

"Duly noted," Sebastian muttered, catching the robot. He felt his eye twitch; not from the dog, but from the insult to William. "Thanks anyway. I know William will definitely like it, the idiot dog lover..." He turned away again. "But really...thank you. I'm sure I'll be back."

"Bring valuables, then," James replied flatly, turning his attention back to his own artificial boyfriend. He picked him up in one strong arm. "I guess that's enough for today..." He turned and walked out of the room, cuddling the apron-clad male. 

The mechanized guns didn't cease pointing at Sebastian.

Emlyn happily nuzzled James back, hooking his arms behind his neck and kissing him as they left. Sebastian felt a pang of longing and jealousy as he watched, and then looked back to Grell. "Not a word," he muttered to the redhead as he slipped out. 

Once Sebastian was gone, Grell just laughed. "Oh, God. You got it bad, darling. This'll be fun to watch..."

 

William awoke to a strange feeling after another long nap. Something warm repeatedly sliding over his skin... Pluto was lapping at his chest and neck with his tongue. It startled him quite a bit, and he caught Pluto's hands. 

"Wha?!"

"Ha?!" replied Pluto. 

William steadily went red. Such an intimate position, especially with a naked man..!

"Hey, you can't just....!"  

It was then he heard the door open.

Sebastian stopped in the doorway and immediately misinterpreted what he was seeing, naturally. "...Oh," he muttered. "Guess fucking Agni isn't enough, then. Sorry, I'll go somewhere else if you're busy." He turned away, intending to find someplace else to get his drug fix.

"Oi!" William cried out, deeply flustered, but in truth he was almost too exhausted to get up. He flopped unceremoniously out of bed and Pluto was sent tumbling. He scampered over to the corner and crouched down, wailing. 

"It wasn't-- it wasn't like that, you fucker! I'd never take advantage of him...!"

"You certainly took advantage of Agni's apologies," Sebastian snipped bitterly. "He said he'd do anything, right? Especially you, apparently." He turned and pulled the robotic dog from his satchel and pushed it over to William. "Hey, you like dogs, right? Maybe this'll tide you over, too. It calls you Master and everything."

William narrowed his eyes. "What sort of miserable attitude is this...? Jesus Christ." He took the dog into his arms. "Since when do you give a damn about who I have relations with? And besides, I was focused on repairing my friendship with a valuable ally!" William huffed, still flustered.

Sebastian shut his bag and turned to leave. "Yes, because you should absolutely shag all your friends to reinforce how much you care, isn't that right?" he muttered bitterly. "Is there anyone else I should know about?"

"He's more than my friend," said William, also turning away. "He loves me."

He tossed the dog onto the bed ('Is it dead, or something?') and scowled. 

"Honestly, you're...you're being such a child.." William then proceeded to try and pull himself back up onto the bed.

"I'm glad you think so highly of me," Sebastian replied indignantly. "I know you always have. It's so comforting, knowing I have the support of my only friend left in the world."

William was out of breath from exertion, but he met Sebastian's eyes. "I know you are hurting," he said softly. "I can't...imagine...what it's like. And I am here, if talking will help you. I always will be. Please do not turn on me, Sebastian. You are my closest friend, too."

Pluto had recovered from his tantrum, and moved closer to William to push him up.

Sebastian sighed heavily and brushed his fingers over his bag, where heroin was waiting. "Right now...talking won't help," he said quietly. "It won't bring him back. I'll come back later, but...for right now, I need to be alone."

William nodded, sighing deeply in turn. He could understand needing some space. "I'll be here."

Although he was considering moving into Agni's room...but Pluto would be very upset by this. And it would be so rude to just lay in Agni's bed all day like he'd been doing for the last two days. 

"Take care..."

If Sebastian knew, he'd be extremely upset, as well. He just nodded in response and at least gave William the courtesy of saying 'thank you' before he left. 

He looked around for a while for a place he could use in privacy, and found an unused utility closet that suited him just fine. After making certain no one was around, he slipped inside and got to work, using a spoon he'd borrowed from the restaurant-turned-kitchen, and a lighter he always had on him. The needle had been supplied.


	21. Reunion

tw implied drug use, implied rape

Slowly night came upon them. William felt miserable, but when he tried to sleep, he just thought of Giltine. The way he'd been violated. Slowly, even the memories he'd tried to suppress came to the surface...like the sorts of things Giltine would insert inside him for the hell of it. This frightened him, and he buried his face into the pillow with a low whimper, clenching his eyes shut tight. 

And then Pluto was there, licking his cheek. William didn't get it...but he wondered if Pluto liked him. Or maybe...no one had ever taken care of him before.

Sebastian returned around that time, his high long worn off, but well worth it. He reentered the room in time to hear William's little whimper, and to see Pluto licking his cheek. He regretted his outburst from earlier; Pluto was only imitating whatever he saw Darwin do.

The raven shut the door behind him and slowly sat down on the side of the bed, resting his hand on William's back. "...Hey..."

William drew breath sharply, rolling over and looking up at the man sitting on his bed. "Se--Sebastian!" he gasped, a bit startled. He hadn't heard him come in. 

He reached for his glasses and clumsily crammed them on, clearing his throat to make it seem like he'd just woken up, not that he'd been having a minor freak out and an autistic albino was licking his cheek to calm him down.

Sebastian jerked his hand back in surprise when William startled. He wasn't fooled; he'd seen the movement and heard the whimper. "I'm sorry," he whispered apologetically. "I didn't mean to startle you."

This in turn surprised William, who was expecting the bitter Sebastian. He glanced up tiredly, his fringe hanging in front of his eyes, and he leaned back on his hands. "It's fine, so...mm, what is it?" 

His eyes made a definite flick towards the clock-- 3 AM. Why?

Sebastian was honestly completely unaware of what time it was; time flew by whenever he got himself wasted. "Oh -- nothing, I just...I'm sorry. About what I said earlier," he muttered.

"Huh...is that the case?" William murmured to himself. "Well, it's...it's fine. I know you're hurting. And you're temperamental at the best of times." He managed a weak smile, sinking back against his pillows.

Sebastian gave him a gentle smile back, kicking his boots off and climbing onto the bed beside him. "I think that's a little too generous," he murmured. "I think you're looking for 'insufferable tit' at the best of times."

William let out a tiny, quiet breath of laughter as the pillows took him in. Then a serious expression touched him. 

"I've been wondering....I...I feel like my strength fades a little each day. Like I'm just wasting into nothing. Like even now, he's still...destroying me...Could I be dying?"

Sebastian furrowed his brow and frowned stubbornly. "I'll ruin him for what he's done to you," he said very quietly. "You're not dying, though. I'm going to make sure of that. I've said it a lot, but I'm serious." He lowered his gaze and reached for William's hand, closing his fingers around it. "...I want to see you get better. And...I know I'm. Well, not the best person. Despicable, actually. But...anything I can do for you, say the word and I'll do it for you. All right? As long as you don't ask me to kill you or anything. That I won't do."

William's breath caught in his throat and he looked away in embarrassment. 

"That...nh..I was afraid I would hurt somebody. And though they ran all those tests on me the other day....maybe something bad is happening to me, and if that's the case...and I really can cure someone, I want everyone to take as much of my blood as possible."

Sebastian was quiet and looked away, as well. He didn't know why, but from the very beginning, he had needed William alive, and now more than ever he did not want William to die. His hand tightened a little around William's. "...What if...since you've got the virus...what if it just spreads, but the version that spreads is yours, the cure? They wouldn't even need to take all your blood. Anyone who gets cured can cure anyone else. But...maybe that's just wishful thinking, isn't it..."

"It doesn't help to think that way," William replied sympathetically. He was surprised Sebastian was still holding his hand, in truth. 

"Ah...anyway..." he muttered, turning his gaze away from Sebastian's, "I'm being selfish, just talking about myself. Truly, mm....well, you don't look so good either."

Sebastian's eyes looked...out of it.

Sebastian immediately wondered if William knew he'd had a hit. But then he asked himself if it even mattered if William knew, and mentally shook it off. "Just tired," he murmured. "It's been a long day."

"Is that so....?" William replied. "You smell strange." He casually eyed the needle marks in Sebastian's veins. "...where'd you get the dog, by the way....?"

Sebastian froze for a second, trying to think up an answer that didn't involve a drug dealer. "I stumbled across some kid who builds robots," he replied, which was true enough. "He told me to try this one out and see if I liked it before I...commission anything."

"Stumbled across...?" William echoed dubiously, not falling for any of his shit. "...Just what would you be commissioning? Let me guess, a cat. Look...we don't have any money or goods to waste on toys, I hate to say it..."

"Yeah, I know," Sebastian muttered, tracing his finger absently along the bedspread. "It'd just be nice to have a cat or something that wouldn't...you know, die."

"Things die," William said quietly, scratching at his skin. "It wouldn't make sense for anything to be otherwise." He stared at the ceiling absently, wondering what pain Sebastian must have been going through to resort to drug usage, but not bringing it up.

Sebastian looked away. "What's the point of it all?" he muttered. "If we're all going to die anyway. Why even live, you know?"

William made a faintly irritated sound. "Asking questions like that, Sebastian...I just..." He rubbed his forehead with a hand that still faintly trembled. "...I don't know why. But there are good things about living...Special memories, delicious things, beautiful nature, love, and lust, and...I think those are important."

The raven exhaled slowly through his nose, sighing quietly. "I'm thirty-two years old and I've hardly had any of those things," he murmured. "I've just survived from the time I was small. I want to experience those important things, but..." He curled up one of his hands into a fist. "...I don't want to if all I can do afterwards is grieve. This isn't me."

"Grieving is a sign that we've loved. If you feel pain for a death, you have loved. Even knowing that....neither of us expected you were capable." 

Pluto caught the word 'love' and began to whisper it repeatedly under his breath. 

"And I need you to help me," said William, "to reverse the chaos of this world, and make it a place where people can experience those wonderful things. I need you, you know."

Sebastian caught William's eye, finding it hard to believe that anyone in the world would need him. "What can I do?" he asked after a moment's silence.

"I need you to....to...never betray me," William replied. "Always have my back. Always stay close, protect me. Help me on my journey, no matter how short lived it may be." He closed his eyes and sighed, feeling a faint prickle behind his eyelids.

Sebastian listened, and he nodded. "I've planned to, from the start," he responded. "It's strange...ever since I saved you from the lab, I've just...needed to protect you. Even the way I am, I knew you're someone very important. I'd never felt like that before."

William smiled a little. "...You're important too. Everybody is a little bit important. Besides, I would never have made it this far without you. No matter what happens...you're my dear friend." He gave him a little peck on the cheeks, but the movement made him dizzy.

Sebastian didn't know why, but being called William's friend felt dissatisfying, even accompanied by a kiss. It went hand in hand with his jealousy and resentment towards Agni, but it didn't make sense -- Sebastian didn't think he loved William, exactly, but supposed he was just greedy and selfish, wanting him all to himself, especially now that he had no one else again.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he saw William looking a little ill, and he sat up a little, concerned. "Are you all right?" he asked quietly, brow furrowed.

William nodded again, but it was half-hearted. "Like I said...I'm not so well." He lay back down, swallowing back the nausea even as saliva gathered in his mouth. "My body feels like it is full of glass. The x-rays...he cut me open, put things inside, and sewed me back up. I'm remembering things...terrible things..." 

His eyes were wide when he glanced back up. "Frightening...things."

Sebastian instinctively pulled William close, embracing him protectively. "He can't do that, anymore," he whispered firmly. "And he'll never again. Not as long as I'm right here, by your side. If he comes anywhere near you I'll destroy him, and you'll never have to fear him again."

"He's destroying me, even now--" William felt his usually stern voice crack. In truth, he hadn't heard his 'stern voice' for a long time. Not since Giltine took him. What he sounded like now was soft, weak, afraid. Broken. 

"I'm afraid..." He clutched Sebastian's body tight and suppressed the urge to whimper. "Gnh...I...need to...sleep. I need...where..." He reached out, fumbling for a pill bottle on his table. Sleep meds, for a long and dreamless sleep.

Sebastian held William tightly, reaching for the pill bottle and making sure it was sleep medication and not antidepressants. He took it and worked its lid open for William, whispering, "Shh, you're all right, you're safe. How many do you need? I'll get you some water."

William's eyes remained glued where the two pill bottles had been standing. Only the antidepressants were left. "Those," he choked out. "I want those. I need those, too."

Sebastian sat up as well as he could with William in his arms and got the other bottle, as well; he just wanted poor William to be able to relax. "Here, I've got them," he whispered. "You'll be fine. You're going to be fine. Take some deep breaths for me, okay?"

William nodded his head, grasping Sebastian's arm with one sweaty, cold hand. "O-okay," he choked out. "Yes." He had to convince himself to calm down. 'I'm being irrational. I'm being irrational. I'm being irrational.' 

But he wasn't. His fears were real. Very real. 

And so, as fast as he could, he took two of the antidepressants, and three sleeping pills, wanting to enter a blissful, painless sleep. 

And suddenly he understood why Sebastian wanted the heroin.

Sebastian sat up with William, holding him closely and rubbing his back; a gesture he would have been incapable of a year ago. He needed William's sanity and happiness, he knew that much. For once, he actually missed the tightass, prude scientist he'd first met. Now, he rocked him gently in his arms, holding him close, fury toward Giltine stewing inside him. He made up his mind to rip Giltine limb from limb next time he saw him, and there would be no hesitating like he'd done with Claude.

 

William continued to sleep, and sleep, and sleep. Pluto had begun a schedule. Every six hours he would jump on William and shake him awake. 

William would stay awake for an hour or so, to use the toilet and have some food, but that was the most he could manage. One time he even fell asleep inside the bathroom, and that was terribly embarrassing. 

He always went back to sleep after that though, and for now, it couldn't be helped. 

Something had come up. 

The following day, a vehicle approached the Hand of Kali's secret entrance. It was a very battered pickup truck, with a backfiring engine and squeaky brakes. It was missing a door on one side, and the tires were looking withered. 

Meeting the guards at the entrance, the leader of the Youth Survivors group poked her head out of the truck. 

"Yo! Can you tell Agni he's expecting us?"

In Sebastian's haste to get high, he'd forgotten to tell Agni, or anyone at all, that they would be getting visitors the next day. So when one of the guards went to tell Agni there were children at their secret entrance, who clearly had not discovered it by accident, the Indian man was quite perplexed and went out to see the children himself, Meenah at his heels, serving as his bodyguard. 

He was surprised by the state of these children; most he'd seen were starving and listless, but these ones were mostly nearly adults, and they seemed very well-off, clever and resourceful. "I am Agni Ghatak. How may I help you?" he asked politely.

Willow didn't look impressed. "Jeez...that guy said it'd be okay," she muttered, frowning. "Sebastian. He said he'd tell you we were coming." She glanced away at the sound of a child coughing, one of the blanket wrapped kids in the back of the truck.

Agni blinked. "Sebastian had not informed me, but I will gladly take you in, regardless," he replied. His gaze swept over the truck at the same time Willow's did, and he spotted the sick children in the bed of the truck. "I see you have ill among you. We'll aid you as best we can; please come in."

"Is that really alright?" Finny piped up. "Sebastian said you're a militant group." 

Agni smiled softly. "I'd never turn a blind eye to someone in need, particularly children, regardless of who we are. I assure you that it's quite all right."

Willow's faintly suspicious expression faded at the sight of his smile. He really was a kind man, she could see it. 

With that, the truck was brought inside, and its occupants unloaded. It was quite packed.   
There was Willow, Charis, Finnian, a couple of stronger boys, the sick children, and Sebastian's new drug dealer James Evans, with his artificial boyfriend Emlyn, come to suss out potential business opportunities.

The Hand of Kali bustled with more activity than usual with the arrival of the unexpected guests. Sebastian would later end up apologizing profusely to Agni for forgetting to tell him they were coming, but Agni waved it away and promised it was fine, and it was. 

For being out in public, Emlyn dressed very effeminately, but decidedly more than when Sebastian met him the day before. A white blouse and a pink skirt was what he wore today, moving about in his bare feet and not seeming to mind at all, helping Finny move sick children with his strength. And many people took a strong interest in him -- mostly men who mistook him for a real girl. Even Sebastian couldn't help but admit once more that Emlyn was impossibly cute and charming. James had some damn good taste.

Willow didn't exactly forgive Sebastian for his forgetfulness, but she let it slide while more important things were at hand. "Are you really sure you can afford to treat our sick?" she asked of Agni hesitantly.

Agni nodded. "Much of our business is in trading, and we get new supplies to distribute every week. We have plenty to spare for you," he promised her kindly. "Your friend Finnian told me you were wishing to go to the Royal London Hospital from here, is that right?"

"Well, that's sort of true," she replied. "But really...we used our last lot of petrol getting here, and if we don't have to go all the way over there, then I'd rather not, y'know?"

"I understand," Agni responded with another nod. "We can give you a little bit of petrol, as well, though, if any among you need more intensive care. Our space is limited and the hospital has more than enough rooms to help you."

"Do you have any doctors, here?" She asked, while the normally very amiable and sweet Charis Hunter's face had gone red with anger when he'd overheard that they might be leaving without him seeing his brother. 

"That Spears guy, isn't he a doctor?" said the radiologist who had been running tests.

"William isn't a medical doctor; he's a chemist," Agni explained. "He was part of a team of scientists working to find a cure." He folded his arms across his chest and thought. "Our only medical doctor is out seeing a bedridden patient right now. You might just have to go to the hospital, after all. We can provide the transportation so that you don't have to use any more of your petrol."

" 'William'," Willow echoed with a smile, glancing at Sebastian. "Hey, isn't that that guy you were complaining about? Said I was a lot like him, or something...? I wanna meet him while I'm here."

Sebastian thought back to the incident -- it felt like so long ago that he barely remembered it, now. "I suppose I can take you to him," he replied with a shrug. "Just...he's been through a very rough time, recently. So be nice to him, or I'll kick you out."

James sidled up to the Hindu man, pressing his hands into his pockets. "I'm James," he said flatly, then inclined his head. "That's Emlyn. I've heard about you, but I 'aven't been able to get an audience. I'm a trader too. I handle narcotics, weapons, and robotechnology."

Agni gave a brief inclination of his head, as well, back to James. "I have heard of you, as well," he replied. "If memory serves correctly, by narcotics you usually refer to recreational drugs, is that correct? We won't trade those, but we are interested in weapons and...robotechnology, was it?"

James smiled, tilting his head back. "...That's right. Take Emlyn here, for example. He's my finest work. Give him a curtsey, won't you, babe?" He fought back the urge to add, 'Real low' on the end. He was in sophisticated company.

Emlyn smiled sunnily up at Agni and did as he was asked, holding his skirt out daintily and chirping, "I'm pleased to meet you!"

Agni was just as shocked Sebastian had been. "You mean to tell me this boy is an android?" he asked, mouth agape.

"Yes. His skeleton is a titanum alloy," James replied. "He runs on a variant of fausalium. Not as much direct energy output, but a much longer lifespan. His current battery life is 340 years. If you don't believe me, of course, I can open him up. Either way...I'd like to focus my market more on this sort of technology, aye...but I'd need buyers, for that." 

He looked at Emlyn and smiled a little. "Emlyn convinced me that it was a good idea."

Emlyn grinned sheepishly, and Agni marveled at how lifelike he was. He honestly couldn't tell the difference between Emlyn and a real person. "I can think of plenty of people who would like to buy from you, but not many who should," he murmured. He asked Emlyn's permission to examine him, and the android happily obliged, standing still and patiently as Agni inspected him. "Goodness, even his skin and hair are perfectly lifelike. And his arms are incredibly strong! Imagine how well this technology could benefit amputees and invalids...!" he gushed to himself.

James ran a hand through Emlyn's synthetic curls. "I need to give him a haircut," he said with a little smile. "Ah, but Emlyn is a Lifetype. I, er, I wanted to make him as close to a human as I could, but a bit better, since real humans aren't that interesting. So...he bleeds and eats and pees, and you can make love to him all fine."

He gave Emlyn a small wink. "He's completely devoted t'me. But...as a militant group, I imagine...in addition to prosthesis, you could do with what I call Wartypes. They don't need to bleed, eat, et cetera, but they can still blend in as real people....until it comes to combat."

"Soldiers who can't become Infected," Agni understood immediately, extremely impressed as Emlyn giggled behind a hand in response to James's flirtatious wink. "You most certainly have my attention, young man. I'm very interested. However, I never make any decisions for the Hand without consulting the other members and see what they think, though I'm confident many will be just as interested."

"I'm sure the hand will be very interested," James replied, his eyes twinkling at the innuendo. "I'd like to form a business partnership with you. Because...I can't make these by myself. I just don't have the materials, or the funds to get them."

The innuendo went right over Agni's head. He nodded sympathetically for James, and replied, "I understand. I would like to form a business partnership with you, as well," he added, holding out his hand for a handshake. "You're a brilliant young man. I will discuss this with my friends, and see how they feel about it."

James smiled. Everything went as expected. More drugs for him, really. He took Agni's hand and shook it. "Take Em with you. Y'know, incase they don't buy it." He winked and turned away. A few men made an obscure gesture, sort of biting at their wrists. 

It was a secret code of sorts, which meant one of two things: 'I'm selling drugs,' or 'I wanna buy drugs [but can't say it aloud].' Either way, he was interested, so he left them alone.

Agni was eager to take Emlyn to the rest of the Hand of Kali and see what they thought of ordering Wartypes as a safer way to go about some of their purposes. Sebastian slipped off to go check on William, to make sure Willow wasn't going to be bothering him in any way, though his mind was a little fixed on the fact that the AIs ran on fausalium. If he went back to his old lab, he could probably scavenge what was left from the portal and sell it to James, or even use it as payment for a replica of Ciel, if things went wrong. 

William was scarcely awake. It wasn't the right time for him to be woken up, so Pluto got upset when Willow tried to come close. But Sebastian escorted him out so Willow could see William for a few moments. 

She turned to Sebastian in deep concern. "What's...what's happened to him?" She asked softly. "He doesn't look like how you described him."

"He was tortured," Sebastian answered very quietly. "I don't know exactly what happened; Will won't tell me and I'm not going to pressure him into it. But I've met the man who tortured him, so...it's safe to assume the worst. He was a madman who experimented with Reapers. He mutated them, and things like that. I have no idea what he subjected William to. But it doesn't matter, because I'm going to kill him so he can never touch William again."

William seemed to blush red when he realized he was being talked about. "Is that...a girl..?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "You're e...embarrassing me..." He fixes his glasses up and tried to sit up. Pluto's whining could be heard, muffled behind the door. "My name is William T. Spears. And you are...?"

"Willow," said the woman in a gentle tone. "My name is Willow."

Sebastian sat down next to him and offered him support so he could sit up straight. "Remember those kids that beat the piss out of me that one time? This is their ringleader. She wanted to meet you, so I let her in. I hope you don't mind; she won't be long," he said softly, even good-naturedly.

William managed a weak smile. "Aha...so you're the one...who put him in his place..."

Willow grinned. "That's me. Sorry to interrupt your sleep, Doctor. I guess....I just wanna say...don't give up. I know it's hard, but we're counting on you. Hang in there."

William stared at her for a few moments, obviously taken aback by her sentimentality. But after a brief time, he smiled again, a little life returning to his face. 

"...I'll do my best, ma'am."

She giggled a bit, then stood up. She gave Sebastian a wink and uttered, "He's a keeper," under her breath before strolling from the room.

Sebastian blushed faintly as he watched her leave, and he scowled just a little bit -- 'what's THAT supposed to mean?' -- but he sighed and turned to face William. "We're taking them to the Royal London," he told him. "Apparently Micah has a twin brother. Did you know that?"

William's eyes had drifted closed again, but he forced them open. "Can't say I...wait a moment, I vaguely recall...the night Ronald, Micah and I got shitfaced, he actually...spoke a lot about it."

William's eyes brightened suddenly. "Did you find his brother? Did you find...Cariad? No, that wasn't it, that's Welsh...Charis! You found Charis?" he rambled hopefully.

Sebastian was pleased when he saw life returning to William's eyes. "Yes, I did. Charis is here, and we'll take him to Micah today." He let out a breath of a laugh and a faint smile. "They're identical. He even squeaks when he gets excited, and he's very excited. Sure you don't want to come along to smuggle them in?"

William went silent for quite a moment then, the smile fading from his face. "I don't....know if..." He was conflicted. The old William would have tried his damnedest not to be held down...and Willow had just said 'Don't give up'. 

But at the same time, he was so, so tired. And...dare he admit it...afraid to be outside, where Giltine could capture him?

Sebastian correctly read William's mood and general train of thought, and rested his hand on his shoulder. "You're better than him," he said quietly. "You're a good shot, and you're strong. Agni and I will both be there. We won't let anyone touch you."

William glanced at the hand on his shoulder. "What if I am indisposed when it counts?" he whispered, like he could scarcely think it. Like the time he'd pissed his pants up on the Wall, when there was an Abnormal risking everybody's life. What if fear took him?

"We'll take care of everything," Sebastian told him resolutely. "Listen, all these what-ifs won't get you anywhere except held back. Just throw them to the wind, and only worry when things happen. Shit happens all the time, but we deal with it and move on. This is a small outing, and I really believe you can handle it."

Pluto cried when he saw William was out and preparing to go somewhere. William was touched by his concern, but the albino had to stay. It was too dangerous, and William had made up his mind. 

James flitted over to sit next to the scientist as they loaded everyone into a semi-trailer just like the ones that the Royal Londoners received supplies from. 

"Hi~ you don't look so hot, for a hot guy," he began lamely, pulling Emlyn onto his lap.

Emlyn beamed at them like always, and Sebastian sat down on William's other side. "Easy, tiger, you're already spoken for," he said lightly, though underneath he was itching to kick James out of pure jealousy and spite. Agni climbed into the driver's seat and kept an open ear for any discourse going on.

It was then James said something peculiar. "...I don't consider myself tied down by an android," he replied, stroking Emlyn's back. "But even as a certified psychopath...I'm damn fond of him. Yes, anyone who hurts my Emmy is mincemeat." 

James licked his lips. "I wasn't hitting on him...just seeing if a little robo-companionship might cheer him up. You don't mind sucking that guy off, do you, babe?" he asked the AI.

Emlyn laughed coyly behind a hand. "Not at all~ I bet he's good, if he's that handsome," he hummed. 

Sebastian had no idea why that statement made his skin crawl, at first, and then he realized it was because it was a gesture and a phrase extremely reminiscent of Grell. He privately grimaced and surreptitiously pulled William closer, protectively. 

It only made Emlyn laugh again and whisper something into James' ear, the only word audible to the others being 'jealous'.

Of course, Emlyn was programmed to cater to James' every whim. If James wanted Emlyn to suck William off, it'd happen with or without William's consent. If James wanted everyone in this trailer dead, they'd be dead within ten seconds.

"Oi," William finally spoke up as the truck began to move. "First of all, don't just assume I'm inclined that way, and second, I...I'm spoken for, too."

He turned his head away, stubborn and embarrassed.

Sebastian felt a prickling heat rise unpleasantly to his face, while Agni felt a similar but more bashful and uplifting blush. Emlyn noticed again and snickered behind his hand once more, singing "Jeaaallouuusss~" under his breath.

"Oh, what do you know," Sebastian snipped, crossing his arms and looking away as well, exactly the same state as William.

William caught Agni's eye when he glanced behind, and they both smiled a little. "I've no interest in your androids," William said after a minute. "Or your drugs. Thank you anyway." He folded his arms and sighed, done with conversation. Instead, he had to field questions from Charis about Micah for the remainder of the trip.

Sebastian was quiet for the rest of the drive, as well, and they soon pulled up close to the hospital; they were within sight of it. Agni slowed the vehicle to a stop, and then turned back to look at his passengers. "Now, how were we planning to do this? As you're aware, Sebastian and William are no longer welcome there, and I might not be, either," he said with a frown, glancing between William and Sebastian.

William leaned against Agni for support. He was already feeling over exerted even for traveling this far. "Go to the tunnel entrance," he concluded. "Send someone out pretending to be a supply man. If the guard gets suspicious, neutralize him."

"Well," said James, "It has been a while since I've snapped some necks."

"No," said William firmly. "Absolutely not."

Sebastian couldn't help but laugh a little behind his hand, and then added, "It'll have to be someone they haven't seen, probably. That, or..." his eyes rested on Charis, the gears in his mind turning.

Charis went red, clutching his rosary. "Mr. Michaelis?" he questioned nervously. "Why...what are you...?"

"Oh," said William, catching on. "You can pretend to be Micah to get us inside."

"Exactly," Sebastian replied with a smart nod. "What do you think? Are you up to it?" he asked the Irish youth. "You'll see your brother faster, probably."

"O-oh, but...lies and f-falsehoods," Charis mumbled hesitantly, fingering his rosary beads. 

William sighed. Charis was possibly even more pious than his brother. "He will forgive you, because this way, nobody needs to get hurt."

This seemed to satisfy the Irishman.

Sebastian thought such a belief was utterly idiotic, but he managed to keep his mouth shut. Doing this would get him in, and he could check on Ciel. And even Eric would have to see that William clearly wasn't turning into a Reaper, or wasn't even infectious at all. They would definitely be able to come and go as they pleased.

There was just one guard on duty this time as they pulled up, and he pointed his gun at the van, signalling for them to halt.

Charis flopped out of the truck, stammering and shaking a little bit as he approached the guard. "Hello there, fellow chum! Tis I, your good companion Micah! I come bearing supplies and other goods...I do."

William's face hit his palm in seconds. "Fuck."

"Is he serious -- ?!" Sebastian mouthed in horror.

The guard lowered the gun a little, making a bit of a face. "Where have you been, then?" he asked him. "I didn't see you go out..."

Charis' eyes widened. "I was...um...I was visiting...um, a ch...a church, because that's what I like to do, because I am a d-devout Irish C-Catholic! Yes. I am. It is surprising that you did not see me! Or I would have asked you along! Brother! Friend!" 

James was stifling a fit of laughter.

It was extremely lucky that the guard didn't find this terribly unusual. "There is a chapel in the hospital," he muttered, but he let it go. "Whatever, Micah, go back on through. Sorry for the holdup -- you know how it is. Just one more thing -- who's in the van? Suppliers?"

"Yes," Charis squeaked, his knees knocking together. "Youth survivors! I found them, and some were ill, and it is my Christian duty to help them if I can. I-I know Micah won't m-mind...I MEAN the others!! Oh-- not Micah-- hahaha, I am Micah!"

He looked like he might faint on the spot.

"Oh, god, remind me to never ask him or his idiot brother for a thing again," Sebastian muttered, both palms covering his face.

The guard stared at Charis like he was a space alien. "Did you have too much coffee this morning, or what?" he asked incredulously. "You're about to jump out of your skin, kid. Jesus, give me a second -- " there was a walkie-talkie at his hip, and he spoke into it, requesting permission to let the van in. There was about a minute's silence, and there was a reply. The guard made a waving motion for the van to enter the tunnel. "All right, go on in. And Micah, for Chrissakes, switch to decaf."

"I will! Do that!" Charis gasped, stalking inside with large, robotic steps, not daring to sigh in relief just yet. 

As the truck eased inside, James spoke up. "And to your left, folks, is one Irish fella who has to clean the shit outta his trousers."

Sebastian couldn't help but laugh at this, though he quickly tried to stifle it so they wouldn't be discovered. "God," he muttered, shaking his head. "How well would that have gone if we'd tried using your robot boyfriend, instead?" he mused. 

Emlyn straightened out his skirt. "Aww, that wouldn't be fair to the guard! I'm so cute he's the one who would've been ready to faint~"

James stroked Emlyn's hair. "Now now, babe. Arrogance isn't that cute in a sweet boy like you. But we both know you could have flirted your way in~"

"News flash," spoke up Willow as she helped a green and trembling Charis into the truck, "Not everybody is gay. As soon as they get under that skirt they'd change their mind, bet you twenty pounds."

Emlyn just smiled coyly. "You'd be surprised how many don't," he said simply, nuzzling under James's chin and kissing his chest.

Finnian rested a hand on Charis's back and gave him a rub to help him feel better. "Fraid I have to take Willow's side on this one," he murmured. "Anyway, it don't matter 'cause Charis got us in! Don't worry, Charis, you'll be okay! You'll be seein' Micah in a few minutes, you will!"

"You would," James replied to Finnian. "You follow her like a lost puppy."

Willow slapped him. "Watch it, junkie. You and your robo slut shouldn't even be here."

Charis was invariably shaken, and he looked like he wanted to throw up. William pitied him. "You did your best in a difficult, dangerous situation. We are grateful."

"Come on," Finnian protested. "I mean, she's right. I'm not gay! I wouldn't fool about with 'im, not for all the tea in China!"

"Quit your bickering, all of you," Sebastian said sharply. "We're here. We need to blend in and not attract attention."

"Shut it," James replied, having been quite insulted by a slight against Emlyn. "You're a little faggot if ever I saw one, Fin, m'boy."

"Everyone, get off the bloody truck." The sick children were eager to get away from the bickering adults. Everybody filed off the trailer...everyone except Emlyn and Finnian. 

Oblivious, William and Agni lead the others away.

"I am not," Finnian sniffed. "It's nothing to do with him. I know 'e's cute, but I'm not interested! Y'don' hafta be so mean about it..."

Sebastian automatically ran his hands over his jacket and his trousers for his concealed weapons to reassure himself that they were there, as always. They were, so he relaxed and fell into step with William. "Stay calm, all right? We're right here with you," he murmured to him under his breath.

William frowned as they walked up to the entrance, 'Micah' still at their lead, clutching his rosary like his life depended on it. Nobody knew of the unspoken order that the psychopath had given to the android. Finnian was strong...but he wasn't reinforced titanium alloy strong. 

"I thought I was doing alright," William muttered. "Or maybe that's just in comparison to Micah's brother..."

"Yeah, you're doing great," Sebastian agreed. "Just...reminding you, I guess. You didn't look very well on the ride over here."

"I'm fine," William replied. He felt a little better with Agni here, anyway. "We need to find a way to contact Micah or Ronald. They are our allies, first and foremost. They would not betray us."

He glanced away when using that word. "Well, I don't think so. But you never know."

Agni guiltily averted his own gaze upon the word 'betray', as well. "I know Ronald Knox, from trading. He has a good heart, so I know he is a sound ally. And Micah Hunter...I don't think he's capable of harming another soul."

Sebastian folded his arms. "You still never know," he replied. "I can get to Ronald Knox, though. I know where his office is, and how to get there quietly."

James snorted in amusement at this. "I bet," he murmured, lighting up a cigarette. Willow doused it irritably and scolded him from lighting it around sick kids. 

"Alright...here's the plan," said William. "I'll take everyone to an abandoned employee lounge. Meanwhile, Sebastian and...you," he said, pointing to James," will go and find Knox."

He really just wanted James out of his sight, he didn't like him much at all. James rolled his eyes. "I ain't 'is chaperone. Find someone else." He turned on his heel and left them alone, presumably to watch the show back at the truck. 

"Willow, then," said William. "Go with Sebastian."

Sebastian sighed at James's behavior, but he reminded himself that they were very much alike. He looked away and quietly beckoned for Willow to follow him. "Alright, follow me. We'll go ahead and meet back here in a couple of hours." 

He wasn't planning on having anyone come with him, but he was sure Ronald could occupy her while he went and checked on Ciel.

Willow was displeased, especially since she didn't know where Finny was, and the care of her children was in the hands of strangers and a very useless Irishman. But she went with Sebastian nonetheless, creeping through the silent hallways to find Ronald's office. 

It took a little longer than planned, but eventually they made it and let themselves in without knocking. 

There was a sudden bump from under Ronald's desk, followed by a stream of colorful Gaelic curses intermixed with a few 'fuck's here and there. 

Willow smirked a little as she looked at the blond, then his desk. "Guess we found Micah, too."

Ronald exclaimed something in Welsh, going bright red and fumbling with his zip, hands trembling. "J-Jesus!"

"I'm flattered you think so, but no, it's just me," Sebastian replied, deadpan. 

"W-what d'you want?" Ronald stammered, glancing down at Willow. "And who's...?"

"What in the bloody blue hell--?!" Micah hissed as he crawled out from under the desk, pushing his short red hair back a little and eyeing the others. 

Willow looked surprised. Micah was identical to Charis, rosary and all...but he swore a lot more, and his accent was very thick. And certainly, Charis wouldn't be caught dead under another man's desk, would he....?

"My name is Willow. I'm part of the Youth Survivors. We infiltrated your complex ‘cause we need a doctor to take a look at some sick kids we have here. Not infected or nothing, just...sick."

Ronald was very cute, she thought. But obviously he was taken, and male-inclined, at that. Another one.

"Sick...?" Ronald finally managed to zip back up and button his trousers shut, refastening his belt. "A-alright, let me just...get my heart back to a reasonable pace, and..." he took some deep breaths, glancing apprehensively between Micah and Sebastian. Nervously, still beet red, he adjusted his glasses. "I'm not a doctor, I'm a shrink, Sebastian, you know that," he muttered. "Why come to me if you've got -- w-why are you even back?!" he cried. "Eric'll kill you! Don't tell me William's back too?"

Sebastian folded his arms impatiently. "Yes, he's here. They're looking for you," he added, pointing to Micah. He couldn't help but smile a little. "I wonder if you can guess who we ran into."

Micah knelt by the desk, because standing would be a bit too embarrassing right now. "Who, Satan?" he responded irritably. "Did he tell you it'd be a jolly fine idea to cockblock me giving Ron a --"

Willow tapped her foot impatiently and promptly interrupted. "Do you have a doctor here or not, you pair of tits?!" she demanded in frustration, striding closer.

"Of course there's fucking doctors here; we're a bloody hospital!" Ronald shot back in exasperation. "Sebastian, who is this bratty kid?!"

"Willow is more clever than you are, I'd wager," Sebastian muttered dryly. "Since you're apparently too busy shagging for anything else. Since I don't want to waste any more of your precious time, I'll just go ahead and ruin the surprise. Micah, Charis is here, downstairs, looking for you. Congratu-fucking-lations, he isn't dead. Come with us to go see him, and then treat his sick friends. Discreetly."

Micah went white in shock and disbelief. Without another word, he ran from the room. This was around the same time that Charis perked up. "Micah's here!" he announced. "He's looking for me! I have to find him!"

William sighed, from where he was sitting with Agni. "Whatever is fine. Just be careful."

Then Charis ran, too. 

Willow drew a gun slowly from its holster and pressed it to Ronald's groin. "I dunno if I like you," she decided. "Get us a doctor now, or that cockblock will be permanent, sweet cheeks."

She'd learned long ago that men will do what you want if you threaten to castrate them. What a weakness, she thought.

Predictably, Ronald went white as a sheet and staggered back, covering his groin with his hands. "Jeeeeesus, gimmie a break! Put the gun away, I'll take you to a doctor, all right?!" he said quickly, inching to the side. "Maaan, kids are really nasty these days..."

"Remember we wanted to do this as nonviolently as possible," Sebastian quietly reminded Willow. "Leave the poor man alone."

Willow glanced up at him. "A threat is all that's needed. I've never had to shoot anyone in the cock," she whispered back, then stepped aside for Ronald to lead the way.

Ronald wasted no time in leading Willow to the medical care floor, but in that time, Sebastian moved to the back of the small group and vanished to go check on Ciel. He gathered supplies he would need to clean Ciel up, as well, doing so with the utmost discretion. Ronald didn't even notice until he'd found a doctor who was available to treat the children.

"Alright, here's -- huh?" he started, looking all around for Sebastian. "...Did he get lost...?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "It's not important. Get this doctor to come with us...please," she added, glancing away. "We don't have forever." 

She lowered the gun at least, giving Ronald a bit more peace of mind.

The doctor Ronald had found was Madame Red. They'd taken alcohol away from her so that she could continue to function soberly, but it was obvious how depressed she was from the loss of Ciel, her last living family member. She lifted her head when Ronald came in, and met his gaze.

"Hey, Ann," Ronald said softly. "We've got some visitors who need your attention. Are you up for it?"

She sighed and rested her hand down on her desk. "Not really, but...I must do my duty," she replied, slowly standing up. Almost all of the life had gone out of her; the joy and pluck had gone from her face, and she looked much older now. "Who are the patients?"

"Some kids from the streets. None of them are Infected, but a lot of them are ill. Can you help us, Ann?"

Angelina faltered for a moment, looking stricken, but she nodded. "Yes," she said exhaustedly. "Yes, take me to them."

Willow looked dubiously at her, given her state, but she wasn't about to complain. "Come on," she murmured, and together they hurried through the hospital. 

It seemed Micah and Charis' twintuition won out. They'd finally found each other, after so long. Both of them were sobbing messes, wailing to each other in Gaelic, and stuck like glue.   
Willow couldn't help but be happy for them both, her eyes even prickled just a little, despite not knowing which twin was which.

Ronald was very much in the same state as Willow when he witnessed Micah and Charis' reunion. Even Madame Red managed to smile a little as she began examining and treating the sick children who needed her attention.

When Sebastian had gone trading, he had found a muzzle. It was designed for dogs, but he got it anyway; it was better than nothing. He brought it with him today to affix to Ciel so that he would not be in danger of being bitten. 

When he came to see Ciel today, he had with him warm water, a soft sponge, a clean towel, and soap. He even had dry shampoo for Ciel's hair. He smiled bittersweetly again when he saw the Infected boy. "See, I promised I'd be back, young master," he said softly.

The twins sank down together, wrapping themselves in a blanket and savouring the precious moment they'd been brought back together. 

"Lil' twin," Charis whimpered, nuzzling him with all the affection in the world, and Micah whispered something Gaelic in return. 

William leaned lightly against Agni, gently toying with his hand while Willow explained to Madame Red each child's particular ailments.

Madame Red listened carefully to Willow, and treated each child accordingly. Agni smiled warmly at the sights -- twins reunited, and children receiving the medical attention they needed. "It's a good day today," the Indian man murmured.

But he had spoken too soon, because at that moment a deafening cacophony shook the whole hospital. Children screamed, and the adults looked up fearfully as silt drifted from the ceiling. 

"An explosion...?!" William uttered, getting to his feet. 

"It's an invasion!" Micah replied, clutching Charis protectively. "Will -- you're not well, so I want you t'take the kids to safety. Agni -- come up with me!"

Agni leaped up to his feet, as well, eyes wide in alarm. He went right to Micah's side, though he glanced back uncertainly at William, wondering if he would be all right. 

Madam Red was also very quick to respond, getting William's attention immediately. "We have a bunker for those who can't fight," she told him quickly. "Come with me and we'll bring the children there. They still need treatment, so if you have any sort of nurse's training, I'll need your help. If you don't, I'll need your help anyway; I'll just tell you what to do. Come on! "


	22. Silhouette

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> liek if u creyd

In the fourth floor library, Sebastian looked up as silt and debris crumbled down from the ceiling. He'd heard and felt the explosion, too, just as he'd finished drying Ciel off. "A raid...?" he muttered to himself, glancing all around the ceiling. His gaze darted fearfully back down to Ciel, worrying for his safety.

Sebastian made his decision quickly. He covered Ciel with the towel, and moved the 'sanctuary' as a protective barrier around him. He knew he would have to move Ciel; this room was no longer safe. Debris was falling all around. "I'll be back for you in just a minute. I have to go fight," he whispered, bending down and kissing Ciel's forehead through the towel. "Stay still and quiet. I'll be back quickly."  
\--

"Go on, quick," said Micah to his brother, as he jumped to his feet. He gave Charis a little push in William's direction, and his brother rounded on him. 

"I'm not leaving you!" he said stubbornly. "Not after so long. I can fight!" 

"Charis," Micah said in a firm tone, but each Irish twin was as stubborn as the other, and Charis wasn't to be swayed. So the two set off with Agni and Willow, while William and Angelina lead the others to safety. 

\--  
With that, Sebastian bolted from the room and through the secret passage between the walls...only to turn a couple of corners and barrel right into Eric Slingby in a painful collision.

Eric, who had been imbibing the alcohol they'd got from their last supply route, was luckily not drunk enough to fail in realizing that there was a great danger at hand. Alan was two stories above him, and so he had begun the long run to go find him, only to trip and go sprawling.  
As he recollected himself, however, he reached instinctively for his gun—and realized he'd left it behind. He cursed himself for being so thoughtless, but regret could come later; an enemy was at hand. 

"You," he growled at Sebastian. "You did this, didn't you?! Laying siege to our hospital, brother?!" He raised his fists, his gaze full of ire.

Sebastian had hit Eric head-on, and was clutching his skull. He glared back at Eric through narrowed eyes and with gritted teeth, and hissed, "You think I -- ?!" He got up to his knees, then his feet. He'd lost all fucks with this man, and had no airs to put on for him any longer. Against his better judgment, just to piss the man off, he replied, "Yeah. Yeah, I did. Because I hate you and want you all dead. That's exactly it."

Eric went white, then red. "You...vile..." He couldn't understand why Sebastian would do this. Alan couldn't even survive outside a hospital. "We took you in, made you one of our own, and this is how you repay that?!" He hurled one strong, massive fist towards Sebastian, almost apoplectic with rage.

Sebastian darted aside, sending his own fist flying to Eric's stomach. "Oh, yes, because handcuffing me in the basement with no food, water, or heat is exactly what you do when you take someone in!" he cried with equal fury. "Forcing me to work for that disgusting madman because I questioned your leadership, that's fair too!"

Eric caught Sebastian's fist, yanked it aside to overbalance him, and drove a knee very forcefully into his stomach. Nobody knew what Giltine really was, and everyone had to earn their place. Plus, Sebastian was a possible threat. But Eric didn't say any of this, because the time for talking was over.

Sebastian got the breath knocked out of him, and barrel-rolled to the side to recover. He caught his breath again in a moment, and charged right back Eric, not caring if this quarrel killed him. He was shorter and leaner than Eric, who was a tall, burly Scot. But Sebastian was light and quick on his feet, and would have to use his wits to win this fight rather than brute strength.

Charging at Eric wasn't a wise move, Eric literally slammed him right onto his back. He had the upper hand, and proceeded to pin Sebastian and beat him bloody. 

"You--will--pay--for--this!!" he spat, his fists coming back redder and redder each time.

Sebastian was surprised when he was pinned down, but quickly brought his shin right up to Eric's groin, as hard as he could kick, and at the same time, spat out a mouthful of blood into the Scotsman's eyes to blind him. He rolled away again after that, coughing up blood, and threw a punch as hard as he could into Eric's jaw.

Eric's advantage was lost. He was crippled instantly by the groin kick, and tried to wipe the filthy blood from his eyes at the same time. "I'm gonna rip you in two, boy!" he hissed as he tried to stagger back to his feet. "Aghh!" Eric then lunged drunkenly at him, spitting blood off to the side from his split lip.

Sebastian neatly kicked Eric back down, his advantage being his current state of sobriety. "See if you can even get back up on your feet, you drunken brute," Sebastian snipped back, prepared for another kick.

Eric growled, rolling onto all fours and clutching his groin. He looked down, and despite all odds, he found something he could use against the man. 

Lunging for a small metal pipe, he whipped around and hit Sebastian right in the knee with it.

Sebastian collapsed instantly, crumpling down to the floor. He bit down on his lip upon impact, splitting it right open. He grunted when he hit the floor, and immediately groped for the pipe, trying to get a grip on it so he could throw it far away from Eric. With his other hand, he grabbed Eric's hair and pulled as hard as he could.

"A-agh!" Eric cried out when Sebastian did this, and he felt his cornrows become messy. He looked maniacal.  
"I'll do anything to protect Alan!" he shouted, despite the agonizing pain he was in. "Bastard!"

"Your last mistake was threatening William," Sebastian muttered hoarsely. "I'm going to make you pay." He freed the metal pipe from Eric's grip and promptly smashed his fingers with it before he threw it down the hall as far as he was able. "One on one, fists only. I think that's fair," he reasoned with a grin, spitting out another mouthful of blood and wiping it from under his nose. All he accomplished was smearing it about, but at least it wasn't dripping.

Eric kicked out at him, but that sent jabs of pain up from his groin, and he faltered at the last minute. He was reeling, and in agony, and scarcely able to see straight. 

"Whoremonger--!" he spat out, lunging for him crookedly.

Sebastian responded with a roundhouse kick to the face, heart pumping frantically from the adrenaline of the fight. "Go back to kindergarten if all you're going to do is call me names," he sneered, cracking his knuckles and stomping down on Eric's chest.

Eric was down for the count. Lights popped behind his eyes, and all he could feel was the sick dripping of blood from his nose and the agony coursing through his body. "J..just don't...don't hurt him..." he croaked hoarsely. "Not...Alan...he never...h-hurt no one.."

Sebastian stared coldly down at him. "Do you really think I'm so inhuman as to murder a defenseless, terminal cancer patient? You make me sick," he muttered, panting rather from the exertion of their fight.

"Yes," Eric whispered back, meeting his eyes. "Ron told me about the people you killed. I know...enough." He looked down, pressing his hand to his trousers, and it came away red. "...Nh..."

"That was the old me," the raven whispered, watching pitilessly. "I've changed." He turned on his heel, breaking their eye contact. "But next time you so much as think about killing William, I'll rip you limb from limb."

Eric grit his teeth. He wanted to go after him with every ounce of his being, but his body just wouldn't let him. His vision blurred, and his head dropped against the ground. 

 

\---

William could hear gunshots, shouting and fighting, far off in the distance. And then he heard footsteps. He drew the children all together, raising his gun. "Stay back," he mumbled lowly.

There was a thump at the metal door, and then a steady pounding. The lock was broken, and Angelina twirled a scalpel between her fingers, ready to stab and gut the intruder if they were a threat. She would not let any more children die here.

Light blinded them as the door opened, and a man in a white labcoat forced it to the side.

Claude Faustus showed no interest in anyone except William, his golden-hazel eyes fixed narrowly upon his former comrade. "Where is he, William?" he asked very quietly. Behind him, the sounds of battle still held strong, though muffled in the distance.

William clenched his fists when Claude appeared, and his eyes widened dangerously. There was the gentle sound of the gun cocking. 

"Where is who, Claude?" he replied just as quietly, in a deathly cold tone.

Claude cocked a pistol in his lab coat and pointed it at William, and a couple of the children gasped and whimpered, hiding behind William and Madame Red. 

"I don't have time for you to play dumb, William," Claude replied impatiently. "Tell me where the savant is before I paint these children with your brains."

"Pluto?" William asked lightly. "He is not here, Claude. He is very far from here. Remember that portal you were trying to steal from me? ...We sent him away, and you're never going to see him again."

"There are only so many portals he could have gone to," Claude snarled. "And unless you'd like to die right now," he added, stepping forward for a closer shot, "You're going to tell me which one it was."

William paused. There was some thought there. It wasn't as if he cared terribly over being killed, but he had to believe there could be something good that came of his affliction. He debated the logic of the situation. They both had guns, but William was at the disadvantage because there were children here. 

"Fine. We drained the lab a while back because we're going to live there. That's where we're keeping him."

Claude stared him down suspiciously, but after several agonizingly long seconds, he finally lowered his gun. "How kind of you, William, to keep an autistic man locked up by himself like a piece of merchandise," he replied calmly, bowing as he stepped back. "He'll be in much better care once he's back in my web." 

Madame Red gripped her scalpel tightly, hand trembling with the pure strength she was putting into her grip. She trembled not from fear, but from rage. She wanted to kill this man, who threatened death so casually when she worked so hard to keep people alive. He mustn't be allowed to live.

"He is not locked up," said William with a bit of a smile. "He adores me, you know. We've improved his communication skills, and he's happy. He doesn't have to be afraid...especially since we're treating him as a person, not a tool." 

He himself knew that Claude wasn't walking out of this room alive.

"Cute," Claude commented, putting his hands into his coat pockets. "Have you toilet trained the mongrel, as well, then? It would certainly make my life easier."

Angelina stood up, clutching her scalpel. "How can you talk about another living human being like that?" she demanded.

Claude just smirked at her. "Ah, have you found a new toy, then, William?"

William didn't bat an eyelid. "My goodness, you have been out of the loop." He shook his head amusedly. "Such a sad, misguided fool. And to think I once had feelings for you. Your time is up now, Claude..."

Madame Red beat William to it, and rushed forward, scalpel in hand, intending to plunge it into Claude's chest and dissect him. He jerked back enough to make her miss and only stab his arm, but he raised his pistol in retaliation, a deafening shot going through the bunker.

Angelina fell, landing with a wet cough as she clutched her now bleeding abdomen, curled up in pain. "A-aaagh..."

Claude scoffed in amusement before he bolted away, taunting them as he went. "You all want to kill me so badly and yet your aim is dreadful! How do you worms survive each day? Auf wiedersehen, William!"

William stared in horror at the wounded woman. "Miss Red, what can I do for you?!" he asked as he knelt beside her, loathe as he was to let Claude get away.

Angelina strained, but she propped herself up against the wall. "Some surgical thread, a pair of tweezers, a needle, a Weitlaner self retaining retractor, antiseptics, rubber gloves...those would be nice," she groaned, pulling her scrub shirt off. "There's...aah, there's an...emergency...surgery kit...under that bunk...over there," she finished, pointing to a bunk some horrified children were sitting on. "I have to get this bullet out..."

William shooed the children aside, lurching for the trunk. "...I- I don't know how good I'll be, I've only done it to myself, not anybody else. Just-- just guide me through it!" he insisted, cringing at the fading sound of Claude's taunting.

Madame Red grinned through her pain, though it quickly turned into a grimace. "Don't be stupid. I'm a surgeon, aren't I? At most, I'll need you to hold a mirror and keep these children calm. I've got -- nnngh...a practiced hand..." 

Predictably, to match her crimson scrubs, the sports bra she wore under it was red, as well. It was almost hard to even see the blood stains on the shirt, and she bit her red lips as she inspected the wound. "Ohh -- dear, I'll need a clean scalpel, too," she muttered.

"Oh, for the love of--!" William dug into the kit for a packaged scalpel. "Miss-- someone else can do these simple tasks, right? There really is somewhere else I need to be right now. I am truly sorry. But I believe in your skills."

Angelina nodded and glanced over at the children, and pointed at the oldest one, a girl of about nine. "You, dear, please come here -- don't worry, you don't have to touch a thing -- just hold this mirror and this light so I can see what I'm doing. You'll be fine, love, you don't have to look. I'll be fine, too, once I get this taken care of." 

She glanced up at William. "Get out of here," she muttered to him, though in a good-natured way. "You have to stop him. Anyone who threatens children like that needs to be stopped. Go on, I'll make it."

"Thank you, and, I'm sorry!" said William earnestly. Then he dashed off after Claude, shouting his name as he ran through the corridors. He was going to end him once and for all. 

Enemies were storming the hospital, but they weren't reapers. True humans were fighting against each other, and it hurt William to see. 

They could never win against Reapers like this.

Claude had hidden in a corridor off to the side to catch his breath. Breathing heavily, he took his hand away from his bleeding arm to survey the damage.

When she fell, Angelina Durless had not only stabbed his arm, but the scalpel had sliced down his upper arm to the elbow, tearing muscle, tissue, and nerves with it, rendering his left arm useless. He narrowed his eyes at the white lab coat stained scarlet. "Shit..."

William had lost Claude, but it didn't take long for him to find a small, scattered trail of blood leading away. He approached as quietly as he could, not wanting Claude to have the advantage over him. 

William was recovering from a mental breakdown, but Claude had a much more debilitating physical injury right now, so William felt he had a chance. He wouldn't fail to kill him a third time.

Among the tissues and muscles cut, so had been a vein. Claude was losing blood fairly quickly now, and he was growing faint and dizzy. Still, he knew he had to get out of there, so he began leaning against the walls as he staggered on, only leaving more obvious trails of his presence. Smears of blood and bloodied handprints decorated the walls as he moved slowly, unaware of William advancing on him.

He was also unaware that, heading his way to find William, was a bloodied and bruised Sebastian, still very capable of fighting, and now armed with the metal pipe that had taken out the knee he was dragging behind him. 

Claude Faustus would not get out alive.

William narrowly escaped being dragged into a fight, but one of the hospital men shot the intruder down before succumbing to his own injuries. Seeing this, William lifted the gun off of him and set after Claude, who was slowing down. William knew he was getting worse; the trail of blood was growing thicker. 

William only had two bullets, but he hoped he'd only need one as he entered the corridor and moved to catch up with Claude. He wanted to see his face as he shot him down.

The sound of uneven footsteps made Claude look up. Blocking his way to the exit tunnel stood Sebastian, breathing heavily. They made eye contact, and Claude stopped in his tracks.

Using the pipe as a cane, Sebastian offered Claude a savage grin. "Going somewhere?" he asked pleasantly.

Claude balked and took a step back, and then turned, intending to run.

"Guten Abend," William purred into Claude's ear, cocking the gun. Then he grabbed Claude by his gutted arm, then the hair, and pulled him down to the floor. His boot crushed his head instantly, but not enough to kill him or even knock him out. The groin was next, and this attack was much more brutal. 

"Or perhaps Gute Nacht would be more appropriate?" 

He smiled darkly as he towered over him.

Claude jumped in fear when he was whispered to, and then cried out in agonizing pain, curling up into a ball after each successive hit. "N-no!" he cried out in terror, cinching his eyes shut. "W-William, p-please, spare m-me! I'll give you whatever you want!"

Sebastian limped his way over and gazed coldly down at the quivering scientist. "Want me to hold this cowardly son of a bitch down while you end him?" he asked William casually.

William wanted this death to be all his own work, but Sebastian would make it easier. 

"Please," William replied cordially, finding he rather liked seeing Claude in such a vulnerable position.

"I want you to tell me that you're sorry for what you did. That you're sorry for betraying me," he told Claude in a quiet voice, his trigger hand trembling a little.

Sebastian forced Claude down flat on his back, putting pressure on his injured arm, making the traitor moan and writhe and sob. "I'm sorry!" he burst out, tears of utmost terror tracking down his cheeks. "I'll never do it again! I'll stay out of your way -- oh, please, God, let me live!" he shrieked, trembling from head to foot.

William was very surprised at this attitude, but he liked it. "You'll 'never do it again'? he hissed back. He grabbed the metal pipe from Sebastian, striking Claude hard in the throat. 

"You don't deserve it! What you've helped do-- it's sick, and the world would be better off without you!"

"Crush his bollocks with that," Sebastian suggested, though for all the good it would do, since his groin was already bleeding visibly.

Claude's larynx was crushed with the blow, taking his voice away and leaving him capable only of helpless whispers. "B-but we -- " he gave a wet cough, blood bubbling out from his lips. "...we were...brothers...p-please...don't...k-kill me..." he begged him.

William wasn't a monster. He didn't know if he was capable of torturing another man. "We were brothers," he replied, "and I think I actually loved you. But you have brought ruin to everything I worked for."

He pulled the trigger, but since it was a revolver, a bullet was not in the chamber at the time, so the gun didn't fire. "Oh, it...it looks like we're playing a game of Russian Roulette. Isn't that fun?"

But truthfully, William was irritated that Claude wasn't dead.

A dark, wet stain appeared in Claude's trousers when the gun clicked but there was no gunshot. He was scared pissless and just wanted this to end.

"Oh, that's my favorite game," Sebastian murmured, smiling kindly down at Claude, making the dying scientist shiver. "Just be grateful we aren't throwing you to the reapers. This is actually very merciful of William, to be honest. You should thank him. Be a good boy and thank him, won't you?"

Claude just sobbed and writhed, another cough bringing up more blood. "Please..."

"Oh," William murmured as Claude began to wet the floor. He shifted upwards, keeping the gun pointed straight at his forehead. Now he knew Claude's fear was real. He clicked the gun one more time, and another bullet didn't fire. 

Maybe the fates were against it. 

Some part of William wanted to let him live, and he finally hesitated. "Sebastian," he muttered, "Claude would be useful to us alive...as a prisoner."

Sebastian tilted his head in consideration. "Maybe," he murmured. "But I can't forgive him for what he's done to you. He's better off dead. One less pawn for the Undertaker."

Claude turned the color of sour milk. "H...h-how...do you know...about...?!" he rasped.

The raven raised an eyebrow to the spider. "...Better off dead, I think," he agreed with himself.

"I guess you're right," William replied. "It's Auf Wiedersehen for the last time, my dear friend." 

William drew breath, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger. Claude's hoarse scream was cut short in his throat as his brains burst out the back and sides of his head. 

William got up and stowed the gun, white and shaking, and instinctively he turned to Sebastian for comfort.

Sebastian was no stranger to such gore, so he was able to take William into his arms and hold and comfort him. "There you go," he murmured, rubbing his back. "You've stopped him yourself. He's gone now, you're gonna be fine."

He helped William up despite his own injury, wanting to get him away from the spider's corpse so he could calm down quicker.

William turned away from the sight and into Sebastian's arms. "Thank you," he muttered, his voice tight. "Thank you for helping me." He glanced up from behind cracked glasses, his eyes glistening. "..."

Sebastian was shaking just a little from his injuries from Eric, but he held William close and ran a hand through his hair. "You're going to be fine," he repeated softly. "Come on...let's get you out of here and somewhere safe, all right? It looks like a war's broken out, here..."

William looped an arm around Sebastian and they began to make their way to the bunker Madame Red was in, hoping to find her alive and safe. William breathed a faint sigh of relief when he saw her expertly stitching herself up, and he leaned against Sebastian lightly. 

"It's done," he said softly.

Angelina sewed the last stitch and nodded smartly, rubbing the arm of her young assistant as she looked up at William with a sort of tired pride. "Very good," she murmured. "Thank you, Dr. Spears."

William sat down and wrapped a blanket around himself. The tremors he'd felt earlier were really taking him now, and he felt he had to sit down and take a few deep breaths. "Sebastian...is...injured," he told her. "I know you are too...and I hate to ask, but is there anything you can do for him?"

Sebastian sat down beside William to stay close to him, and Madame Red looked the convict over, analyzing his wounds. "That's my job," she replied with a bit of a smile. "I can clean him up, but there's not much I can do for his knee in here. Still, I'll do my best," she replied, taking the first aid kit and hobbling over to them.

\----

Meanwhile, Eric had begun to stir.

A surprise was waiting for him when he woke up. His small, frail lover Alan knelt weakly beside him, the Scot's head in his lap, trembling hands touching his cheeks.

Eric's eyes were slow to open. His facial muscles hurt to even move. "Nh...oh...A-Alan...? Baby?" he croaked out, frothy blood accumulating at the corner of his mouth. 

He teared up immediately at the sight. "Wh-whadda you doin' out of the bunker? It's n-not safe...!"

Alan swallowed thickly. "...I saw what happened to you," he whispered. "I -- I don't know what made me so terrified for you, but I had to...had to find you and make sure you were all right. A-and then S-Sebastian...did this to you," he choked. He leaned down and pressed their foreheads together. "...I'm just so glad you're alive," he breathed shakily, his tears dripping down onto Eric's cheeks.

"Alan, you're too sick, how did you even get out of bed?!" Eric replied, weeping in turn as he clutched his dear lover close. "You precious, sweet and thoughtful man..." Words weren't even enough to express it. 

"I'm sorry you had to...to see the fight," he sniffed, smoothing down his frayed cornrows.

The younger man shook his head slowly, embracing his precious lover tightly. "I just forced myself," he uttered. "I needed to be with you." He clumsily kissed Eric's face with relief, fixing his hair, as well. "He was wrong, goading you on like that...I k-know you fought your hardest, and...o-oh, look what he's done to you, love," he stammered. "We've got to get you to the bunker, too."

Eric didn't know if he could even make it that far. "Ha..ha...baby, I don't think we're gonna be able to have kids," he muttered, since Sebastian had obviously ruptured something in his plumbing. 

"I was so scared for you, aye," he whispered as be moved onto his hands and knees. "I thought he'd hurt you."

Alan chuckled weakly at Eric's joke, and rested his hands over the Scotsman’s. "No...no, he didn't see me," Alan whispered. "I stayed hidden, and..."

"Oi, get a look at these faggots over 'ere, eh?" someone nearby jeered. Alan jumped and looked worriedly over his shoulder; there were four men he didn't know approaching them with various weapons. They were some of the remaining looters from the siege group, and Alan held tightly to Eric with wide-eyed fear.

Eric grit his teeth, pulling Alan into his arms and covering him protectively. "Don't hurt Alan," he cried. "I'll give you anything you want, just don't hurt him."

Normally he'd fight them, but he knew for a fact that he wouldn't land a single hit. Surrender was his only option, for Alan's sake. 

There was nothing he wouldn't do for his soulmate.

Some of of the other men snickered to each other, and one of them rested his hands on his hips as he strode forward. "En't this Eric Slingby?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes. "Bastard called my mum a rancid whore, 'e did." He looked back at his companions. "What say you, lads? I think we should beat the shit out of 'em both."

"Not my fault if her legs were open 24 hours a day," Eric hissed back, realizing they weren't open to negotiation. He got to his feet, pulling Alan up with him. Running was their only option. They wouldn't get far...but for where Eric was going, they could get far enough. 

Alan made a small exclamation of surprise when he suddenly found himself on his feet, and he looked up at Eric in fear. "What do we do? We're no match for them," he whispered tremulously. He gasped a little from a terrified sob, and it caught in his throat, making him go into a fit. He coughed blood onto Eric's shirt and wheezed, trying with difficulty to breathe. "H-help..."

"It's okay," Eric whispered, kissing his head. "We're going to be okay, Alan."

"What the fuck, ya cocksuckin' Scot?" one of the men demanded, stalking over to him. It was exactly what Eric wanted, and at that moment he lunged at him, pulling a grenade from his pocket and drawing the pin. 

"I'd run if I were you."

The bandits scattered like rats. Eric threw the grenade, then grabbed Alan and ran like hell in the opposite direction. 

"Everything's gonna be okay if you hang in there for a little bit, sweet'eart!"

There was a large explosion in the distance.

Alan gasped again, clinging tightly to Eric, the wind resistance from Eric's speed blowing his hair into his face. He clutched onto him for dear life, heart pumping frantically as the explosion rocked the building once more. "W-where -- are we -- going?" he breathed.

Eric didn't stop until he'd reached the room he was looking for. Not seconds after he closed it did the banging start up, but he locked it tight. "This won't hold them for long, baby," he whispered breathlessly, taking him as far away from the door as he could. There was nowhere to go; they'd trapped themselves in this room. 

"Remember what we talked about? We...we go together...?"

Alan watched the door with trepidation, breathing hard, each breath raspier than the last, and slowly looked up at his beloved Eric before he nodded. His lip trembled a bit, and he embraced his lover tightly. "No other way," he whispered faintly. "I don't...I don't want them to end us. But -- God -- I'm terrified," he sobbed. "Promise me it'll be quick, Eric..."

"That's right," Eric replied, his voice oddly firm as he wiped blood off Alan's lips. The tears in his eyes glistened with the setting sun. "Just a few seconds of air, baby. We'll watch the lights fly together."

He pushed open the large window of the third floor, and looked down at the ground far below. "I won't die without you, Alan. I'm never goin' a-anywhere without you. You know me."

With trembling hands, Alan reached up and took the broken, tinted glasses from Eric's face, followed by his own. He folded them neatly, and set them down together on the windowsill, the evening breeze stirring their hair. 

He stood up straight again, ignoring the frantic, angry pounding against the doors. He looked up into Eric's eyes and cupped his lover's face into his palms, bringing him close and kissing him passionately. He drew back, eyes overflowing with tears, and he whispered back, "I know, love. I wouldn't go anywhere without you, either." He kissed him again, softer this time, sniffling. "I love you, Eric."

Eric buried his head in Alan's shoulder for a moment as his own tears spilled over his lashes.   
"I love you, too, star of my life," Eric uttered in soft Gaelic, returning the kisses. "If we had time, I'd make love to you once more..." His hands passed over Alan's slender hips, "But it's okay, 'cause I'll always remember."

He sat down gently with Alan, their legs dangling over the edge like Sebastian had done with Ciel not so long ago. 

Eric took Alan's hand tightly. "I'm sorry we couldn't get married, or have a family. I hate that we had to meet in such a shitty world. But...if I could be with you, I'd live in any sort of world, n-no matter what. You...are my purpose, love."

Alan leaned against him, clutching Eric's hand with equal tightness. "Don't be sorry, love," he whispered, kissing his beloved's hand. "I never would have made it this far in the world without you. As long as we're together, I'm at my happiest, understand? You kept me so alive, through all my best and worst times. Even now, in the end..." he drew in a shaky breath. "...I wouldn't want to go any other way. And I'm so...so grateful for you, Eric Slingby. God gave you to me."

The sound of wood splintering made Eric turn his head sharply around-- but they hadn't made it through yet. 

"Aye, He did," Eric replied, kissing Alan's nose. "We'll go back to Him together...see if E'll let me in. You'll put in a good word, won'tcha?" he asked with a weak smile, blinking tears away.

Alan smiled weakly back, sniffling faintly and blinking his own tears aside. "You know I will. I won't go in without you, you know. I'll wait outside the gates until you come, okay?" His throat seized up with another sob, and he wove his fingers together with Eric's. "Thank you for everything, my love."

Eric grinned. "You tell 'im, Al. You tell 'im, we're soulmates, and it’s the rules: We gotta be together, aye? We will be t'gether. I promise, Alan, I promise."

The door splintered again, nearly coming open, nearly coming off its hinges.

Alan kissed Eric one last time. "I know, Eric," he whispered. "I know we will. I'll see you on the other side, okay?" 

The men's angry shouting filtered through the splintering door, and Alan looked out toward the setting sun one last time, memorizing the beautiful pink and orange staining the sky. He shifted closer to Eric and held onto him as tightly as he could, resting his head against Eric's strong chest. "It's time," he said softly, shutting his eyes.

"See you soon, love." Eric held him close, and they heard the door slam open just as they pushed themselves over the edge. 

And then there was nothing, nothing but the feeling of air whipping all around them for what seemed like an eternity.   
Eric and Alan never let go of one another, tightly bound as they flew towards the earth. 

Everything went quiet, then they were the only two men in the world, and nothing but a speck against the vibrant sunset sky.

 

Another explosion shook the hospital, and Sebastian immediately tensed up with nervousness, worried for Ciel. The little shelter he'd made him would barely protect him from the smallest rubble falling from the ceilings. He could be crushed and lost forever.

Madame Red mistook his tension for a pained reaction to the antiseptics she was applying to his wounds. "I know it stings awfully, but please try to bear with it, Sebastian..."

William leaned in closer. "You haven't even torn your meniscus, or any ligaments. It is a mere flesh wound, my friend." He pet his head sympathetically. "You'll be fixed up in no time."

"Oh, you're already bruising very deeply," Angelina murmured with pursed lips. "Eric packs quite the punch, doesn't he? I'll have to give him a talking to when this is over...though you fought too, Sebastian, and I'm sure he's no better off. Shame on you, fighting allies during a time like this. Eric has a lot on his plate!"

Her chatter just went in one ear and out the other. Sebastian remained tense, gripping the mattress pad of the cot they all sat upon. Abruptly, he stood up, rolling his shoulders. "I can still fight. Those explosions can't be good and they might need me," said quietly. "You'll have to save your scolding for later." He began limping to the bunker door, desperate to move Ciel now.

"Hey --" William pushed himself to his feet, taking Sebastian by the wrist. "No. You're at a disadvantage, and that's all they need to get the upper hand! You don't go to battle wounded. I'm sure Agni's doing a perfectly good job out there with all the others. You should stay here and recover."

Sebastian paused and looked back at William, masking his feelings of nervousness, but unable to conceal his impatience to get out. "If I can still stand, I can still hold my own," he responded stubbornly. "You've seen what I can do with weapons in my hands. I need to get out. I'm wasted down here."

"Sebastian," said William quietly, "I could really use you down here." He searched his eyes shyly, and swallowed his hesitation.

Sebastian looked away guiltily, now torn two ways. "I know," he replied. "And I'm sorry. Please bear without me for a little longer; there's something I absolutely must do." He unlocked the bunker door and pulled it open. Most of the nearby gunfire had stopped, or been pushed back in another direction. It was quiet now.

William's jaw was left slightly agape when Sebastian turned away from his plea, and then he stiffened, clenching one first as the man ran away. "...What could be so important?" he whispered to himself, scowling. 

The appearance of Emlyn and James through the secret tunnel cemented his decision in his mind. William pushed his gun into Emlyn's hands. "Here you are, pretty boy. Guard the bunker." And then he snuck after Sebastian.

Sebastian limped off as quickly as he could to the fourth floor, unaware of William's pursuit. He was too obsessed with just getting to Ciel to detect signs he was being followed when normally he would have known immediately.

With one knee out of commission, it was exceedingly painful and difficult to get down into the secret space between the walls, much less traverse through them.

Still, he made it through with sweat and tears, relieved beyond words when he saw Ciel still there and unharmed. He hurried to him, pulling the cushions and the towel off of him, and dusted silt and debris from his hair and clothes. "Oh, thank goodness," he sighed. "You're still safe, Young Master..."

William had done the best he could to get through the wall, but he didn't really understand how to climb through the puzzle. It took a few minutes to sneak through, and peek up through the grate. What he saw stunned him.

Ciel made a weak attempt at snapping for Sebastian's arms, but it was helpless with the muzzle he'd been given. "Hhghhhrr...." he growled lowly, meeting Sebastian's gaze with a clouded, milky gaze.

Sebastian pulled Ciel into a gentle embrace, kissing the top of his head. He pulled away and met Ciel's dead gaze apologetically. "I'm sorry. I took longer than I intended. You've waited very patiently." He sighed. "I must move you somewhere else. Somewhere safer. This room will no longer suffice...but I don't know where else to take you."

Ciel looked up at him. "Ssse...." he whined softly, struggling with the muzzle. "Ssseee...bh.."  
His bound hands strained against the rope, every part of him just wanting to be free.

It was no mistake or coincidence: Ciel was trying to say Sebastian's name. The raven felt his heart crumble to pieces again, and he sank to his knees despite the excruciating pain it brought him. He glanced over his wrists, knowing how his little prisoner felt. "I know," he whispered. "But I can't let you free yet. It's too dangerous. If you Infect me, I won't be able able to protect you anymore." He reached up and gently ran his fingers through Ciel's hair. "Do you understand, young master?"

Ciel was struggling against the ingrained rage in his brain. But the evolved part of him, the part that had a small grasp on logic, knew that trying to eat Sebastian right now wouldn't get him anywhere. He rubbed his muzzle back and forth against Sebastian's chest, making pitiful whining sounds. "Aaaaghhhh...!"

Sebastian had to shut his eyes to keep from tearing up, and he held Ciel again, throat tight. "I know," he uttered miserably. "I'm trying. I'm doing my best. Everything I do is for you, Ciel. We'll get you a cure one day, I know we will."

Ciel raised his bound hands to Sebastian hopefully, a low growl rumbling in his chest. "Ah...oh...offff. Offfff." His clawed toes scratched against his legs from where he sat. "Nnhhah..."

Sebastian gave him a soft, gentle nuzzle. "Not yet," he murmured, squeezing Ciel's hands. "Soon, I hope. Very soon. You remember what I told you what happened. It's possible his blood could save you. Things can go back to normal and you can come with us to the Hand of Kali. And then we can finally know some happiness."

Ciel chewed on his own lip, just to draw a little blood. Not yet....? 

It was then he caught the scent of something much more delicious than his own blood.   
He glanced down, eyeing Sebastian's bandaged knee where the blood had seeped through. His pupils dilated, and he gazed up at him with white eyes. 

"Nhaghh! Aaaaaghhhhh!" He writhed suddenly, pushing himself out of Sebastian's grip and getting to his feet. With a surprisingly deep roar, his trembling arms sprang free of their binds, and the muzzle was next. 

"Gghaahhhhh!" He grabbed at his head, which felt terribly strange. His whole body felt so strange.

Sebastian lurched to his feet in shock, but staggered when a blinding pain in his knee sent a shockwave of paralyzing torment through his entire body. He gasped sharply, staggering back, away from Ciel. "C-ciel, no! They'll hear you!" he panted, gritting his teeth from the pain. "What happened?"

Ciel grinned crookedly as his body began to change and shift. What a good time to evolve. It couldn't be better. He leapt forward, already Willow's height, and he grabbed Sebastian around the neck. "No...not.....yet...?" he hissed, slamming the man facefirst into a pile of rubble.

Sebastian's cry of shock was stifled when the fingers closed around his throat, and he clutched Ciel's hand, kicking wildly in the air. When he least expected it, he was released only to be thrown violently into the rubble. Rocks and shrapnel lacerated his barely-dressed wounds, and he lay still, dazed and badly injured.

Ciel turned his prey over slowly, reaching the size of a grown man, and he gave an inhuman grin. "Mmm...now," he whispered, settling over him. In one gruesome moment, his grin split as his jaw dislocated. All the better to eat the largest pieces possible at once. "Nnhghhh~"   
Sebastian was to him as a fly was to a spider.

Sebastian held his arm out in a vain attempt to stop Ciel and save himself. "N-no, Ciel..." he uttered hoarsely, eyes wide with terror. He coughed heavily and tried again. "Ciel, n-no, I'm here to protect you!" he cried. "This isn't what you want!"

But it was exactly what Ciel wanted. He leaned over him, drool oozing from between his large incisors and splatting against Sebastian's face. 

"End.." he whispered eagerly, and then his head burst apart in an enormous star of blood.   
Blood and detritus sprayed the convict and the Abnormal dropped dead atop him.

At that moment, William approached, shotgun in hand. He grabbed Ciel's gory corpse and heaved it aside. 

"Are you okay!?" he cried. "Did it bite you?!"

Sebastian was white and speechless, trembling from head to foot and breathing heavily. His eyes didn't focus on anything in particular; he just stared straight ahead in shock and terror. 

It took him several moments to process the idea that Ciel had been killed, and this time for good. His throat seized up, and he made a few weak choking noises before a sob exploded up from his chest, and he blinked and met William's eyes. 

He couldn't speak; he was shocked and terrified down to his core, eyes white all around and pooling up with tears.

William's heart was torn by that expression...but Sebastian was sick with grief, and he knew it. The man wasn't mentally stable at the best of times, but after losing someone he loved...naturally he'd go to drastic measures to get him back. He saw that Reaper like a human, and that was the quickest way to get oneself killed. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said softly as he dropped down beside him, checking him for even a tiny scratch that Ciel might have infected.

For once in his life, Sebastian could feel no rage, only crumpling down into helpless, agonized sobs like an abandoned, lost child. William had done the only thing he could judging by what he saw. There was a decision to be made, and he made it quickly while Sebastian's judgment was clouded. The raven knew this and couldn't bring himself to hate William for it, but of course it could never close the gaping hole that had been freshly torn out of his heart.

Slowly, weakly, even as he wept his heart out, Sebastian lifted his arms to pull close to William, to try and convey even vaguely he was grateful, and forgave him.

"Hey, now...you're okay," William said gently, stroking Sebastian's hair affectionately. "You're okay, I promise. It's going to get better." He gave him a gentle squeeze, and kissed the top of his head. "You just... let it out, I guess...I'm here."

He sat with him for as long as Sebastian needed to start pulling himself back together.

When Sebastian could finally speak again, his voice was thick and tremulous, threatening to throw him back into tears at any moment. "I...I really thought," he whispered uncertainly. "I was so sure I could save him. B-but I...!!" 

He clutched onto William tightly, misery saturating his expression. "I couldn't do it...h-how can I keep you safe like I promised?" he gasped.

"B...because...I'm not dead. I-I'm alive, Sebastian...And I can't turn." William buried his fingers in Sebastian's silky hair, tightening his grip. "I'm here for you. Whatever you need, alright?" 

William's heart was racing, and it hurt so bad to see Sebastian like this. Ciel could have been saved if...if the mutation hadn't occurred.

Sebastian nodded listlessly, reaching up to wipe his eyes onto his sleeve. After a moment, he said hoarsely, "That's twice now I owe you my life, William." He swallowed thickly. "Even though there was no o-other way, I'm..." he glanced up at the other man. "...thank you..."

"You owe me no such thing, Sebastian. You've saved my life a dozen times and I am still indebted to you." William helped the man to his feet. "Come on...let's...let's get going. It looks like the fight is over...and everyone's gathering outside."

Sebastian nodded, glancing over at Ciel's lifeless body, so strange and grotesque now from the mutation. He was silent for a moment, and then whispered, "When this is over...would you mind if I...would you be all right if I cremated him?"

William glanced at him. "...It's none of my business whether you cremate him or not, Sebastian. I didn't know the boy." He beckoned him to follow as they started to crawl back through the crevice betwixt the walls, and started head back downstairs. Power was out, so they didn't bother using the elevator.

"I meant..." Sebastian said slowly, hesitating as he followed William through the crawlspace. Then he lost heart and changed his mind, casting his gaze down. "...never mind..."

William wondered what Sebastian had been going to say, but he didn't push the matter. They stayed quiet as they walked through the building, but William kept a supporting arm around him as they went.


End file.
